Franz Kafka is off to see the Wizard, but rather than the Emerald City of Oz, instead discovers The Castle. Devotees of the writing of Franz Kafka will love this film, although all others will probably be somewhat perplexed. Nevertheless, this is an amazingly clever and inventive film. It combines a truly clever and literary script with stunning visuals, and features an amazing cast. Franz Kafka, working at a drab job as a clerk in a large insurance company in an equally drab and unnamed city, spends his evenings writing fiction that nobody ever reads, and that he sincerely hopes nobody ever will. When one of his few friends fails to show up for work one morning Kafka attempts to find out what became of him. In doing so he opens up a proverbial "can of worms" that eventually leads him to an incredible conspiracy.This is not your average thriller. It is a thriller based upon ideas, rather than upon car chases and spectacular pyrotechnics. Nevertheless, Kafka will keep the viewer on the edge of his seat, trying to figure out what it is really all about.

I haven't read everything by Kafka, but I do love those of his novels I have taken in. And I am interested in what Soderbergh directs, though this is the first of them that has really taken me by storm(to be fair, the others are thus far limited to Erin Brockovich, Solaris and Ocean's Eleven, an unfortunate fact that I am trying to rectify). This has some incredible visuals, and the cinematography and editing are spectacular. The plot is engaging, interesting and develops throughout. This has masterfully done, intense and chilling sequences. The acting is perfect. All of the casting is spot-on, as well. This has astounding atmosphere and mood, and is immensely effective. It is not a Hollywood or mainstream experience, and if you are looking for something light or easy, this isn't it. I suggest that you find out as much as possible about Franz, his life and his written works(if you like them, this is a must-see for you, if you enjoy the medium of film at all), and try to avoid learning anything about the content of this prior to watching it. I recommend this to any and all fans of the author and/or Steven. 7/10

I just like Prague, what a beautiful place to photograph, how many deeply associative, almost mythical, images does one come across in Prague, castles and winding rivers and bridges and gargoyles and cobblestone squares and narrow alleys with walkway overpasses and dark old European colours. Plus I love Kafka, and anyone who holds a deep respect for Kafka will take pleasure in imagining his what his real life experiences may have been like if his real life experiences had included events analogous to those that take place in The Castle, which I have never read actually, but I think the events of the movie are taken from the events in that story. Anyway, though, Prague is beautiful and so is Kafka's writing. I've been to the Jewish quarter of Prague, Kafka's birth place, and the Jewish cemetery—it's otherworldly and the real life city now has the kind of romance in it that we usually find only in movies and novels and paintings and other forms of imagining—so, it's a wonderful place to shoot a movie.

Considering the fact that Franz Kafka's work seeing the light of day was a result of a broken promise, because he never wanted his work or his persona to be known to the world, and on his death bed asked a friend to burn all of his work(but which instead decided to publish it), one could consider this film a further invasion of his privacy, and in a sense a blasphemy(setting him in the middle of his own work he never wanted to be published). On the other hand the result is not as surreal and claustrophobic, in black and white, European style movie, not inflicting damage on Kafka's work, making him the lead character in the diluted adaptation of his novel "The Castle", and is in a sense a tribute to the genius of Kafka's work. There couldn't have been a better choice for the lead role, but perhaps Terry Gilliam would have been a better choice to direct.Basically if you like the work of Kafka, you will like this movie, too, as it tries to capture the claustrophobic, surreal and absurd atmosphere of Kafka's work, although missing on the depth of it.