Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic..."

I don't think we've had an Oscar winning film on Wyrd Britain before, they're generally  not really the type of films we bother with here but we definitely have now.

Peter Capaldi is mostly known for two things being majestically sweary in 'The Thick of It' and for being the lead singer of popular beat combo The Dreamboys but before the former and after the latter he also did a spot of screenwriting and directing earning himself a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film and an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for the very first thing he made.

The film stars Richard E. Grant as Kafka desperately struggling to complete the opening line of 'The Metamorphosis' hampered by writers block and a stream of unwelcome distractions and unable to decide just what it is that 'Gregor Samsa' (played here by Crispin Letts - son of Doctor Who producer Barry) has transformed into.  These distractions include a man (Ken Stott) with an unhealthy amount of knives searching for his missing friend 'Jiminy Cockroach', a room full of dancing ladies and a kindly fancy dress saleswoman (and balloon animal sculptor) (Phyllis Logan).

It's fantastic fun, gloriously daft and hugely enjoyable.  Stott, perhaps best known for his stint playing DI John Rebus, is both terrifying and a picture of childlike joy and nobody does comedic existential angst quite like Richard E. Grant.  Capaldi's script and direction is absurd and witty and makes perfect use of (what was apparently) his wife's slip of the tongue to create something bonkersly wonderful.

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