FRANZ KAFKA'S IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

This Academy-Award winning short is literate, slyly intelligent and a real gem. A delightful convergence of icons of existential despair and of hope and redemption, with a goofy nod to Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy to boot.

This is a collection of short films, of which the title film is the best by a long, long way.Franz Kafka's It's A Wonderful Life is a nicely grafted short feature about the writing of Kafka's most famous novella.It's just the right length and tone for the material. Poor Franz! I wonder if he was really so gloomy!The other films on the DVD are watchable, but you probably won't watch them again.

Quality of image is very poor. I can view a copy on YouTube for free. I was expecting a better copy

Oh Lewis Black, you RULE!!!!!!!!!

As advertised, no frills

I can't say much about the film as a whole because i couldn't get past the first 10 minutes. We were actually looking for the Christmas classic with Jimmy Stewart. We quickly realized we had the wrong film but tried it anyway. I'll just say this, Kafka was a strange guy.

FRANZ KAFKA'S IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE AND OTHER STRANGE TALES is a DVD collection of four short films that were a part of Sundance in 1995. These films are a mixed bag of absurdity, drama, comedy, and poignancy.The first film on the DVD is the title feature of the DVD, "FRANK KAFKA'S IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE". The writings of Kafka and the films of Frank Capra express two worldviews that are almost completely polar opposite of each other. This short film brings elements of both together to create an absurd little story that tells how Kafka was inspired to write his famous story, "The Metamorphosis". This short won the 1995 Oscar for Best Short Film, Live Action.The next short is entitled "SEVEN GATES". Two brothers who live very different lives meet up together unexpectedly on the road home to their parent's for Christmas. The family's driveway is incredibly long and the brothers have to open up seven different gates across the driveway in order to pass through. Along the way they have a conversation.The third short on the DVD is "THE DEAL". Two of the world's most powerful businessmen meet together to discuss a joint project that will make the two men THE most powerful men on the planet. A duel of witty banter becomes foreplay to the agreement that is ended by "testifying" to each other (if you know the origin of the word you'll understand). After watching the short, I saw in the credits that this short was written by Lewis Black, the obnoxious comedian. If you like his comedy, you will probably enjoy this short. It's the only short of the four that would have been rated PG-13 or R.The last short on the DVD is "MR. McALLISTER'S CIGARETTE HOLDER". The film is based upon a short story by one of the lesser known writers of the American South, Mark Steadman. The story is filmed in black and white tones and follows one Mr. McAllister. Mr. McAllister finds a metal cigarette holder while working in the fields one day. It becomes his prized possession and seems a good luck charm that leads him to a beautiful albino girl, named Dora, that becomes his common law wife. On a birthday trip to the beach with Dora, Mr. McAllister discovers something that shakes him to his core and is shown what true love really is.I enjoy watching short films, but I have to admit that I only enjoyed two of the four films, "FRANZ KAFKA'S IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" and "MR. MCALLISTER'S CIGARETTE HOLDER". "SEVEN GATES" has some touching moments, but it didn't do much for me and while "THE DEAL" is humorous, it's really nothing more than an extended punch-line drug out for almost twenty-five minutes. This DVD isn't for everyone, but if you enjoy short films, you might want to check it out.

4 short films of about 20 minutes each. No unifying theme, just 4 surrealist exercises in film making with low production values. An hour and 20 minutes I will never get back.Do not get hooked as I was by the title, it describes only the first short. I thought a mash-up of Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" and Kafka's Metamorphosis would be unusual enough to be interesting. Wrong. The 2nd short was also tied in to Christmas, but that's the only similarity - Waiting for Godot while driving. 3rd short is absurdist anti-materialist dialogue (sort of dozed off for part of it), and the last one is actually a kind of sweet love story.Bottom line - don't waste your time.