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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.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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