Klassenverhältnisse

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Class Relations
Directed by	Jean-Marie Straub Danièle Huillet
Written by	Franz Kafka(novel)
Starring	Christian Heinisch Mario Adorf Nazzareno Bianconi Harun Farocki
Cinematography	William Lubtchansky Caroline Champetier Christophe Pollock
Editing by	Danièle Huillet Jean-Marie Straub
Release date(s)	1984
Running time	126 min.
Country	Germany
Language	German
IMDb profile

Klassenverhältnisse, known in English as Class Relations, is a 1984 film by the French filmmaking duo of Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet. It is based on Franz Kafka's unfinished first novel, Amerika.

The German filmmaker Harun Farocki appears as one of the leads, and the film also features a cameo from American experimental filmmaker Thom Andersen.

[edit] Style

As Franz Kafka never visited the United States, the film was intentionally shot in Europe, with the bulk of shooting occurring in Germany. During the opening scene, the replica of the Statue of Liberty located on the Seine is used as a stand-in for the real Statue of Liberty, and the film features prominently architecture, flora and costuming (including a policeman in a bobby helmet) that is unlikely to be found in the United States. Though Huillet and Straub are both French, the film was shot in German, the language the original book was written in.