Kafkaesque visions: Exploring the biographical and creative layer in film adaptations

Franz Kafka’s literary works have long served as a source of inspiration for filmmakers, resulting in a diverse range of adaptations that reflect both his biography and his most iconic themes. This article examines how three films – Orson Welles’s The Trial (1962), Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka (1991) and Peter Capaldi’s Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1993) – incorporate biographical elements of Kafka’s, life while simultaneously reinterpreting his literary motifs on-screen. Using a comparative, intertextual framework informed by contemporary adaptation theory, the study explores how these films construct cinematic representations of Kafka’s existential dilemmas, bureaucratic absurdities and psychological struggles. The article also investigates the concept of the Kafkaesque and its function within these adaptations. It concludes by emphasizing the enduring relevance of Kafka’s themes in contemporary cinema and the ways in which his narratives transcend literary boundaries to influence modern storytelling across various media.