Mr. Kneff (30th Anniversary Kafka Re-edit)

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One of the special events of the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival was a screening of a “Surprise New Film” by director Steven Soderbergh. As many predicted beforehand, this “new” film ended up being a re-edited version of Soderbergh’s 1991 sophomore film Kafka, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and is a film that Soderbergh is not particularly proud of. Renamed Mr. Kneff, the film follows its titular protagonist (Jeremy Irons), an insurance clerk and author who becomes involved with an underground group headed by Gabriela (Theresa Russell) after one of his co-workers is found murdered. The supporting cast includes the likes of Armin Mueller-Stahl as Inspector Grubach, Ian Holm as Doctor Murnau, and Alec Guinness as the Chief Clerk.

Probably the biggest change Steven Soderbergh makes to Mr. Kneff that differs it from Kafka is his decision to remove all the spoken dialogue from the film, effectively making this a subtitled silent film. The film also adds sepia-toned tinting to many scenes of this predominantly black & white film, resulting in a look that is not too far off from German Expressionist films. In addition to being about 20 minutes shorter than the original, Mr. Kneff also features a very anachronist soundtrack, with one of the most notable needle drops being the 1996 instrumental cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” by the Cello-based Finnish metal band Apocalyptica.

Having not seen Kafka in its original form, I cannot really say how Mr. Kneff compares with the original. However, it can probably be said that this is not a film for mass consumption. Instead, this should be viewed as a highly experimental re-edit of a film that is considered to be an early failure of Steven Soderbergh’s career, giving the message that it is never too late to try and fix what is broken.

Mr. Kneff screened as part of the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival

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Sean Patrick Kelly

Sean Patrick Kelly is a Toronto-based freelance film critic and blogger with a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies from York University. Since founding his site in 2004, Sean has shared his passion for cinema through insightful reviews and commentary. His work has also been featured in prominent outlets, including Toronto Film Scene, HuffPost Canada, Screen Anarchy, ScreenRant, and Rue Morgue Magazine.