Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life

Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life
Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life
Directed by	Peter Capaldi
Written by	Peter Capaldi
Produced by	Ruth Kenley-Letts
Starring	Richard E. Grant
Cinematography	Simon Maggs
Edited by	Nikki Clemens
Music by	Philip Appleby
Production ; companies	BBC Scotland ; The Scottish Film Production Fund ; Conundrum Films ;
Release date	1993 ;
Running time	23 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life is a 1993 British short comedy film written and directed by Peter Capaldi . It stars Richard E. Grant as Franz Kafka and co-stars Ken Stott . The title refers to the name of the writer Franz Kafka and the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life , directed by Frank Capra , and the plot takes the concept of the two to absurd depths.

The film features a rendition of "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" from the 1910 operetta Naughty Marietta .

In 1994, the short won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film . The following year it won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film , tying with Trevor .

Synopsis [ edit ]

The great writer Franz Kafka is about to write his famous 1915 work, The Metamorphosis , but inspiration is lacking, and he suffers continual interruptions.

Cast [ edit ]

Richard E. Grant ? Franz Kafka
Crispin Letts ? Gregor Samsa
Ken Stott ? Woland the Knifeman
Elaine Collins ? Miss Cicely
Phyllis Logan ? Frau Bunofsky
Julie Cox ? Party Girl
Jessie Doyle ? Party Girl
Samantha Howarth ? Party Girl
Justine Luxton ? Party Girl
Laura Reiss ? Party Girl
Thea Tait ? Party Girl
Lucy Woodhouse ? Party Girl

Accolades [ edit ]

Year	Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
1993	BAFTA Scotland Award	Best Short Film	Peter Capaldi	Won	^[1]
	Atlantic Film Festival Award	Best Live Action Film	Peter Capaldi	Won	^[2]
		Best Short Film	Peter Capaldi	Won	^[2]
		Best Set Design	John Beard	Won	^[2]
1994	Angers European First Film Festival Audience Award	Short Film	Peter Capaldi	Won	^[3]
	BAFTA Film Award	Best Short Film	Peter Capaldi, Ruth Kenley-Letts	Won	^[4]
	Celtic Media Festival Award	Best New Director	Peter Capaldi	Won	^[2]
	Vevey International Funny Film Festival Award	Prix Schwartz Best Short Film	Peter Capaldi	Won	^[2]
1995	Academy Award	Live Action Short Film	Peter Capaldi, Ruth Kenley-Letts	Won	^[5]

References [ edit ]

^ "Latin for a dark room" . The Herald . 22 March 1994 . Retrieved 27 February 2016 .
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "FRANZ KAFKA'S IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" . National Library of Scotland . Retrieved 29 September 2019 .
^ "Premiers Plans Festival d'Angers" (PDF) . Premiers Plans . 1994 . Retrieved 20 February 2016 .
^ Kenley-Letts, Ruth (2011). "Franz Kafka's "It's a Wonderful Life" (1993)" . Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide . Archived from the original on 20 May 2011 . Retrieved 4 August 2012 .
^ "The 67th Academy Awards (1995) Nominees and Winners" . Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . AMPAS . Retrieved 20 November 2011 .

External links [ edit ]

This article related to a short comedy film is a stub . You can help Wikipedia by expanding it .

[1] "Latin for a dark room" . The Herald . 22 March 1994 . Retrieved 27 February 2016 .

[library-2] "FRANZ KAFKA'S IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" . National Library of Scotland . Retrieved 29 September 2019 .

[3] "Premiers Plans Festival d'Angers" (PDF) . Premiers Plans . 1994 . Retrieved 20 February 2016 .

[NY_Times-4] Kenley-Letts, Ruth (2011). "Franz Kafka's "It's a Wonderful Life" (1993)" . Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide . Archived from the original on 20 May 2011 . Retrieved 4 August 2012 .

[Oscars1995-5] "The 67th Academy Awards (1995) Nominees and Winners" . Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . AMPAS . Retrieved 20 November 2011 .

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v t e Adaptations of works by Franz Kafka
Films	The Trial (1962) The Castle (1968) The Penal Colony (1970) Klassenverhaltnisse (1984) The Loves of Kafka (1988) Kafka (1991) The Trial (1993) Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life (1993) The Castle (1994) The Castle (1997) K (2002) Metamorphosis (2012)
Literature	Kafka Americana
Comics	Give It Up! The Metamorphosis Introducing Kafka

v t e Franz Kafka 's The Metamorphosis
In popular culture
Film adaptations	Metamorphosis (2012)
Film variations	Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life (1993) Rat (2000) Kuthiraivaal (2021)
Novel variations	Insect Dreams: The Half Life of Gregor Samsa (2002) Kockroach (2007) Anxious Pleasures (2007) Samsa in Love (2014 short story)
Video game variations	Bad Mojo (1996) Metamorphosis (2020)
Other	Solo Piano (album)