Land surveyor K. (Ulrich Mühe, THE LIVES OF OTHERS) arrives in a remote village only to discover that the authorities at "The Castle" who summoned him have no use for him. Having sacrificed a great deal to come there, K. finds himself "appointed" land surveyor by the mysterious Herr Klamm. Saddled with two useless assistants (Frank Giering and Felix Eitner), K.'s only contact with officials at the "The Castle" is the cobbler's son (André Eisermann, BROTHER OF SLEEP) - whose sister (Dörte Lyssewski, QUEEN MARGOT) got him the position by carousing with the Herr Klamm's men - who can only promise to "try" to relay his messages to Klamm (and then only through other intermediaries). K. becomes romantically involved with tavern maid Frieda (Susanne Lothar, THE PIANO TEACHER) who is the mistress of Herr Klamm; and stealing her away proves detrimental for him, more from the villagers who all live in fear/awe of the "The Castle" than from Herr Klamm directly. K. suffers the indignity of having to accept a position of the school janitor (lodging with Frieda and his two assistants - now serving even less of a purpose - in the schoolroom at night), and his further entanglements with the locals - particularly the women - uncovers the flaws in the system and its real inner workings.

Michael Haneke's film version of Kafka's exploration of the inner workings of a bureaucratic hell feels less like an adaptation than a retelling (interspersed throughout with narration that serves less and less purpose). While our sympathy for K disappears once we learn that his relationship with Frieda as well as his seemingly concerned and friendly interactions with other women in the film are his way of gaining access to "The Castle", the viewer is just as frustrated and compelled to follow him as he tries to enter "The Castle" (even figuratively). It's not much of a spoiler to reveal that the film ends just as the book does, but it disappoints that way because it ends up feeling more like a prestige "product" than Haneke's interpretation of the work. The late Mühe, Lothar, and Giering would also appear in Haneke's FUNNY GAMES (the Austrian original).