Das Schloss (1968)

For the land surveyor K., the Castle is a symbol of the power and dictatorship of bureaucratic apparatuses. Although it is within reach, it remains an unattainable goal for him. He has received an assignment from the Castle, but confirmation of it is initially nowhere to be found. There is no place for K. in the village directly below the Castle, either; at first, they will not even let him spend the night at the inn. K. is defeated by the absurd, unfathomable bureaucracy and the villagers’ indifference. Hundreds of letters are piled up in the village mayor’s office, arranged in a jumble according to no logic an outsider can make sense of. Could the land surveyor’s letter of assignment be among them? Could there have been a mistake? In this place, the land surveyor can shape neither the task supposedly assigned to him nor his life as a whole according to his own wishes or make them a reality. Despite his tireless attempts to adapt, he ultimately remains excluded from everything—the Castle as well as the village—and is not accepted as one of their own. All his attempts to communicate, even with Frieda, who is devoted to him, ultimately come to nothing. Whenever help or even support seems to be in sight, it only makes things more confusing. Worn down and exhausted, K. lies down to die at the end. “You were tireless in your zeal,” the village mayor praises him.