The film is, Franz Kafta's It's A Wonderful Life.
It is written and directed by none other than Peter Capaldi. This name will probably mean more to British readers, but for those outside the UK he's that guy he says fuck a lot in the TV show 'The Thick of It' and in the film spin off 'In The Loop'.
The title refers to the author Franz Kafka and the film, It's A Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra. The plot take the concept of the two elements to strange and unusual places. The writer, Kafka is trying to write his most famous work, The Metamorphosis but is struggling to find any inspiration. While trying to write is also continuously interrupted by neighbours, visitors and random people
Richard E. Grant plays the author and he plays it rather well. He starts to resemble his subjects' appearance before he turns into a beetle. Pale skin and dark rings under the eyes, makes me think of German expressionism films.
The film changes from dark comedy to very sinister when Ken Stott suddenly appears from the shadows asking where is pet Jimminy Cockroach has gone. But just as quickly as that happens, the mood turns to sentimental when everyone in the film appears with jar of insects for Kafka after he has a breakdown. It ends on a happy, if not odd note with Gregor Samsa, Kafka's creation now in beetle form, singing in bed.
An odd but well staged and written short film that twisted genres. This film inspires me as I too try to write genre twisting tales. If you're interested in watching the whole film (20 minutes), you can find it on youtube.
End Line: Genre twisting nostalgic literature piece.
Next: Taiwan
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