Movie The Fly and Kafka's Metamorphosis.

AI Overview

CRONENBERG + GOLDBLUM: THE 1987 INTERVIEWS | MULTIGLOM The 1986 movie The Fly is a remake of a 1958 film and is not a direct adaptation of a work by Franz Kafka, but rather director David Cronenberg stated that his film is his version of Kafka's novella, The Metamorphosis. While Kafka's story features a man who turns into an insect, Cronenberg's film adds the elements of scientific ambition, a romantic relationship, and a more graphic, body-horror style of transformation. Kafka's The Metamorphosis

Protagonist: Gregor Samsa wakes up one day transformed into a giant insect.

Plot: The story focuses on his family's difficult reaction to his transformation and his own struggle to adapt.

Themes: It's often interpreted as a tragic commentary on alienation, family duty, and the burden of the body.

Cronenberg's The Fly

Protagonist:

Scientist Seth Brundle accidentally merges his DNA with a housefly during a teleportation experiment.

Plot: The film tracks Brundle's horrifying, accelerated physical degradation into a "Brundlefly" and his relationship with his girlfriend, Veronica Quaife. Themes:

Cronenberg's version explores themes of identity, love, and the terrifying physical and emotional consequences of scientific hubris.

Connection to Kafka:

Cronenberg viewed his film as a modern retelling of Kafka's themes, focusing on the horror of the body betraying the mind and the tragedy of a loved one's transformation.