Dir.: Michael Haneke; Script: Michael Haneke D'après le roman de/Based on the novel by: Franz Kafka; Phot.: Jiri Stibr; Ed.: Andreas Prochaska; Cast: Ulrich Mühe, Frank Giering, Felix Eitner, André Eisermann, Nikolaus Paryla, Dörte Lyssewski, Inga Busch, Norbert Schwientek, Hans Diehl; Prod. & Sales: Veit Heiduschka, Wega-Film Produktion-Ges.m.b.H., Hägelingasse 13, 1140 Vienne (Autriche), tél.: (43-1) 982 57 42, fax: (43-1) 982 58 33.

A land surveyor, K., is invited to the Castle to do some work for the Count, but when he arrives at the Village, he finds that nobody is expecting him. K. is a stubborn man and he tries to exercise his rights, but everyone seems united against him. The harder K. tries to reach his goal, the farther from it he finds himself. The Castle bureaucracy is impenetrable and K. continues to remain what he was on the day of his arrival -- a stranger who is barely tolerated.

"Michael Haneke's film version of Kafka's novel is highly successful as a literary adaptation, because it incorporates Kafka's prose as an essential element of the film. (As in his previous films) Haneke develops a dynamic narrative that takes us deeper and deeper into the nocturnal side of life... The textual images become the setting for the deepest, blackest emotions." -- Klaus Dermutz