#jizchak löwy

[amtskind]

"kafka" (2024) - the series compared

more about this kafka-biopic in linked post.

joel basman as franz kafka

david kross as max brod

tobias bamborschke as oskar baum

robert stadtlober as felix weltsch

nicholas ofczarek as hermann kafka, franz kafka's father

marie-lou sellem as julie kafka, franz kafka's mother

maresi riegner as ottilie "ottla" kafka

mariam avaliani as gabriele "elli" kafka

naemi latzer as valerie "valli" kafka

[mandiloop]

🇨🇿 Portrait of Jizchak Löwy, Kafka Museum,Prague. This portrait made me stop dead in my tracks. Walking through the Kafka Museum, we learned about what a huge influence Löwy had on Kafka as a friend, mentor, perhaps even muse. And look how handsome he was! And then I saw the dates and realised (with a sense of dread that became familiar in our time in Prague and Berlin) that dear Jizchak had been murdered in the Holocaust. I looked it up and sure enough, Löwy perished in Treblinka in 1942. At a conservative estimate, over 850,000 people entered Treblinka Death Camp between July 1942 and October 1943 and less than seventy came out alive. I’d high recommend the book Treblinka Survivor: The Life and Death of Hershl Sperling by Mark S. Smith, about one of those people who escaped. by Mandy Southgate | mandiloop

[amtskind]

kafka at the yiddish theatre

a scene from the kafka (2024) series, where kafka, along with the rest of the "circle of prague" (max brod, oskar baum, felix weltsch), visit a play by the yiddish theatre.

since i enjoy expressionistic theatre and the yiddish language - this was my favourite scene. also - kafka's joy and laughter was very wholesome. i added english subtitles. 🎻🤎

background / analysis:

franz kafka enjoyed the yiddish theatre and in 1911/12 he encountered the polish actor yizchak löwy in one of those very plays. a long-lasting friendship began and kafka got more invested in his jewish ancestry - which he and his family had neglected up until that point. later in 1917, kafka published an essay "on the jewish theatre" ("vom jüdischen theater"), which recalls yizchak löwy's memories.

kafka's father hermann kafka viewed people like yizchak as dirty and backward and made fun of his manner of speaking. the hate of bohemian jews towards jews from east-europe wasn't that uncommon - as stupid as it sounds. but hermann also hated yitzchak for being a person of arts, since in his opinion - arts was not valuable, especially in the economical sense.

in the scene, one of the actors portrays an authorial figure, that tries to solve the fight at the dinner-table. the situation, combined with the strange insult of the "fat tomato", reminds kafka of his own father, who often caused arguments when the family ate together. seeing this figure having soup poured over him - makes him laugh, schadenfreude the germans would call it.

[amtskind]

lia von blarer as felice bauer

liv-lisa fries as milena jesenská

tamara-romera ginés as dora dymant

christian friedel as franz werfel

konstantin frank as jizchak löwy

lars eidinger as rainer-maria rilke

marie-luise stockinger as grete bloch, a friend of felice bauer

"kafka (2024)" - the series compared

more about this kafka-biopic in linked post.

joel basman as franz kafka

david kross as max brod

tobias bamborschke as oskar baum

robert stadtlober as felix weltsch

nicholas ofczarek as hermann kafka, franz kafka's father

marie-lou sellem as julie kafka, franz kafka's mother

maresi riegner as ottilie "ottla" kafka

mariam avaliani as gabriele "elli" kafka

naemi latzer as valerie "valli" kafka