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Because back home he impregnated a maid, Karl (Christian Heinisch) is
sent to America, despite not knowing any English. Once arrived, an uncle
(Mario Adorf) pretends to be happy to take him under his wing, but
actually sends him a farewell letter when Karl is visiting Mr. Pollunder
(Willi Vöbel) and his rather pushy daughter (Anne Bold). At a cheap
hotel, he meets vagrants Delamarche (Harun Farocki) and Robinson (Manfred
Blank), whom he joins for a while, until he finds them searching his
suitcase and stealing the most priced possession he has, a picture of his
parents. Karl finds employ as an elevator boy at a hotel, where the very
powerful chef takes a liking in him. But one day, Robinson appears utterly
drunk, and trying to hide him Karl angers the maitre d', who's quick to
fire him. With nowhere else to go, Karl is back with Robinson and
Delamarche, who now live with singer Brunelda (Laura Betti), who has taken
an instant liking in Delamarche but dislikes Robinson enough to often lock
him out on the balcony for hours - and Karl with him. So eventually Karl
makes plans to run away with the circus ... Franz Kafka's novel
Amerika was written from the perspective of one who has never
actually been to America and who, disregarding research, let his
imagination run wild what it would be like, making up a very artificial
and rather devoid of fact image of the place. And in that respect, Straub
and Huillet's rather odd direction makes a ton of sense, as the film is
made up of long and static shots that have a certain artificiality to
them, the practice of establishing shots is mostly abandoned to keep one
in geographical randomness, and the dialogue is intentionally stilted and
spoken in an intentionally unnatural rhythm. And all of this goes well
with not only the artificiality of the novel but also Kafka's trademark
stiffness in writing as a whole. Unfortunately, with the film clocking in
at over two hours, the effect wears a bit off and runs a bit stale, and
the film's over-artificiality fails to properly capture Kafka's wit and
irony - but even as it is, Class Relations is no doubt a very
unusual cinematic trip that does deserve a watch.
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