One of the great works of world literature that, surprisingly, has never made it to the big screen is Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, the story of travelling salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed in his bed into a repulsive and verminous insect-like creature of human proportions.
Finally, nearly a century after it was written, Metamorphosis is being brought to cinema screens for the first time by London-based Attractive Features.
The film stars Maureen Lipman as the Mother, Robert Pugh as the Father, Laura Rees as the Sister and Chris New as Gregor Samsa.
Written in a three-week burst at the end of 1912, Kafka’s amazing novella has caught the imagination of generations of readers since its publication in 1915.
What started out as an intensely personal expression of self-doubt, self-disgust, despair, desperation and isolation, touched a universal chord – with Kafka’s private themes seen as symbolising the far wider political and social struggles of minority religions, cultures and movements.
The Freudians, Expressionists, Absurdists, Avant-Gardists, Existentialists, Marxists and Zionists all claimed him as their representative and spokesman.
Yet, apart from the various short films, animated versions and films loosely based on Kafka’s story, there have been only three airings of Metamorphosis on television over the years – a German production in 1975 (Die Verwandlung), a Swedish version in 1976 (Förvandlingen), and the 1987 television version by the BBC of Steven Berkoff’s brilliant theatre adaptation (The Metamorphosis) originally staged in 1969.
Director Chris Swanton said: “My overriding approach was to get the film as close to the original story as I could,” while Attractive Features added: “It is a difficult, even prohibitive undertaking to turn such an iconic and much-loved story into a feature film, but that is not good enough reason to shy away from the challenge.”
Filmed at Halliford Studios in Shepperton, the film is currently in post-production and will be doing the rounds at various film festivals later this year as the company hopes to secure the release deal that their weighty endeavour so richly deserves.
In the meantime, the teaser trailer can be seen on the film’s own website: www.metamorphosisthemovie.com.
Text reproduced and adapted from the Metamorphosis Facebook page and film website by kind permission of director Chris Swanton.