(1997; German) Adapted from Franz Kafka's incomplete novel, Michael Haneke directed and wrote the screenplay of this surreal tale of an interminable bureaucratic nightmare. Upon the convoluted, hierarchical, impenetrable bureaucracy inside its mysterious castle, one may interpret a man's existential dilemma in regard to God or a totalitarian government.

Summoned from afar to be the land surveyor for the Castle, Josef K (Ulrich Mühe) arrives in winter after an arduous journey only to discover that he must obtain a permit not only to enter the Castle but to remain within its boundaries. Twin assistants, Arthur and Jeremiah, show up without the surveying apparatus or any knowledge of surveying, though they are eager to follow K; unable to tell them apart, he calls them both Arthur. In an attempt to get information, K telephones the Castle from the inn only to be told: "Not tomorrow or any other time." A messenger, Barnabas (André Eiserman), hands K a letter signed by Herr Klamm from the Count with instructions to employ Barnabas for further communications. K accompanies Barnabas to his parents' home since he cannot stay at the inn.

Deciding to leave Barnabas for the Herrenhof, another tavern, K becomes acquainted with Olga and Frieda (Susanne Lothar) in the taproom. After Frieda, who is Herr Klamm's mistress, herds the peasants outside to the woodshed, she comes back to K, lies to the landlord that K has departed, and then carnally embraces K on the floor as he feels himself becoming lost in the strangeness. The pair of assistants appear laughing at the scene of seduction. K accepts Frieda as his fiancée, though the landlady assures him that an interview with Herr Klamm, necessary for them to wed, is an impossibility.

When K is informed during an audience with the Superintendent, who is ailing, that the Castle actually has no need of a land surveyor, the summons being the result of an old misunderstanding, K expresses his opinion that everything seems to be mindless. "Nothing is done without thought," corrects the Superintendent, who then longwindedly explains the confusion as having begun as a minor error that resulted in piles of correspondence over several years, only recently cleared up.

Short of funds, needing employment with a fiancée to support (who apparently has no influence or connections), K reluctantly accepts a post as school janitor. No one is reliable; everyone is capable of deception. While waiting beside Herr Klamm's coach for his return, Momus, Klamm's village secretary calls K away for questioning, but he refuses to answer; soon after Klamm departs in the coach.

Barnabas and the imbecilic assistants find K to hand him a letter from Herr Klamm in which the land surveyor and his helpers are praised for their good work. The following morning when the students and their teachers arrive, K and Frieda and the two assistants are still in bed on the floor, leading to an unpleasant confrontation. Later Frieda accuses K of infidelity and of selfish disregard for her, seeking only his own advantage; but when he professes love for her, she departs into her room with Jeremiah.

At the Herrenhof, Frieda will resume her former position as barmaid, which will cost Pepi (Birgit Linauer) her job, sending her back to being a chambermaid; nonetheless, she asks K to join her and two other girls in exchange for light work. Exhaust from lack of sleep and searching for Erlanger's room, with whom he had an appointment earlier, K opens the door to Bürgel's room, who provides a lengthy explanation: "One must resign oneself and wait."

Now you will better comprehend the meaning of Kafkaesque.

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