Labyrinth
Trailer · Background Material · Pictures · Official Site
directed by: Jaromil Jires
produced by: Karel Dirka
starring: Christopher Chaplin, Maximilian Schell
genre: Documentary
running time: appr. 90 minutes
Synopsis:
THERE WERE MANY QUESTIONS, BUT ONLY KAFKA HAD THE ANSWER.
Portraying himself as a director creating a biographical film on Franz Kafka, Maximilian Schell begins researching the writer's career in a tiny appartment in Prague. So intent is Schell on understanding Kafka's ideas that he projects himself into various scenes from the writer's life, sending him on a surreal journey through Kafka's writings and the history of Jewish persecution.
Kafka (portrayed by Christopher Chaplin) often appears as his guide through the dark labyrinth of his mind. Director Jaromil Jires creates a riveting portrait of the filmmaker's obsession with the tortured mind of Kafka, eliciting an excellent performance from the Academy Award-winning Schell.
Maximilian Schell is undoubtedly one of the most successful German-speaking actors in English-language films. Amongst numerous awards, Schell won the Oscar for Best Leading Actor in "Judgement at Nuremberg" in 1962 for which he also won the Golden Globe as Best Motion Picture Actor, and he won another Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actor in "Stalin", in 1993.
About the director:
Jaromil Jires (1935 – 2001) was one of the leading Czech film directors and scriptwriters. In 2001 he died in a car accident.