Towards the end of the 19th century, the Russian prince Dimitri
Nekhlioudov leads a superficial and mundane existence. He is
appointed a juror at the trial of a woman he recognises as Katioucha,
whom he once seduced and abandoned after getting her pregnant.
Troubled by his conscience, Nekhlioudov finds a replacement
juror. Even though she is innocent, Katioucha is found guilty and
deported to Siberia. Guilt-stricken, Nekhlioudov follows her and
repeatedly begs her to marry him, but she refuses...
In his letters to his friends and family, Franz Kafka gives us a rich self-portrait that is surprisingly upbeat, nor the angst-ridden soul we might expect.
In the 1940s, the shadowy, skewed visual style of 1920s German expressionism was taken up by directors of American thrillers and psychological dramas, creating that distinctive film noir look.