Class Relations

A young bourgeois is forced to leave his country after a terrible scandal. He eventually accepts the offer from an uncle to emigrate to America, where he takes up various jobs to support himself. He tries to get used to his new life but he can’t let go of his memories from Europe and his well-off upbringing, which didn’t prepare him to endure menial jobs, now necessary as a source of livelihood. The terrific duo of the French cinema, Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub, in 1984 filmed the adaptation of the novel Kafka never completed, “America”. With their stern, but at the same time stimulating, cinematic style, they emphasize the relationship between the original text and cinema, use the German language and deliver a film of savage beauty that won the Special Mention by the Jury at the Berlin film festival.

Original Title: Klassenverhältnisse

Directors: Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub

Screenwriters: Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub

DoP: Caroline Champetier, William Lubtchansky, Christophe Pollock

Editors: Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub

Principal Cast: Christian Heinisch, Nazzareno Bianconi, Mario Adorf

Country: West Germany, France

Year: 1984

Running Time: 127'

Language: German