“Ich bin kein Karl Rossmann”: Klassenverhältnisse e il cinema di resistenza di Jean-Marie Straub e Danièle Huillet

Abstract

This essay analyzes Klassenverhältnisse, the film adaptation of Kafka’s Der Verschollene by Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub. It focuses on the adaptation’s political stance and the filmmakers’ Brechtian approach to cinema. The work explores how distancing techniques are employed through the actors’ delivery and linguistic choices, challenging conventional narrative immersion. Central to the analysis is the role of the camera as a strategic, anti-subjective point of view that resists identification and aligns with the film’s critique of class structures. The essay highlights how Klassenverhältnisse transforms Kafka’s novel into a cinematic space of political reflection and formal experimentation.