Posted on: April 15, 2009 Posted by: Jay NeuFutur Comments: 0

Essentially, Pathfinder has released a 1992 retelling of Kafka’s Metamorphosis on DVD, and have bundled it together with “Telephone”, a 16-minute short exercise in Kafkaesque storytelling. This ensures that two directors have their works saved for posterity, as well as provide a snapsnot into middle-nineties interpretations of Kafka’s seminar work. While there are not bonus features per se in this release, the faithfulness that Soth brings to the project is impressive, deftly adapting to the then-current Kafka’s work.

The only thing that I would like to have seen would be a commentary further explaining the context in which each film was created. I mean, I have read “Metamorphosis”, but I would like to understand more clearly the challenges and other issues that came forth in Soth’s retelling of the story. Pathfinder’s transfer of the film from the original source is clear and provides sharp audio and video, making sure that symbolic elements and lighting are not placed into a muddy background. Beyond that, there is not much to say about this two-film collection.

Both films are interesting in different ways, with “Beyond the Screen Door” appealing to the Kafka fan in me, while “Telephone” Strikes out on its own and really tells a story that is fresh and new. For fans of good, cutting-edge cinema (even if it is over fifteen years old), Metamorphosis: Beyond The Screen Door should be high up on the next films that one should pick up.

Rating: 8.1/10

Metamorphosis: Beyond The Screen Door (DVD) / 2009 Pathfinder / 79 Minutes / http://www.pathfinderpictures.com

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