The Castle (1997 TV Movie)

Ulrich Mühe: K.

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Quotes 

• K. : We've lost a fully workday. We must make an early start tomorrow. Find a sleigh to go to the Castle and have it ready outside at 6:00am.

  Artur : Fine.

  Jeremias : You say fine, but you know it's impossible.

  Artur : He's right. No stranger may enter the Castle without a permit.

  K. : Where does one apply for a permit?

  Artur : I don't know.

• K. : Why didn't you say so?

  Barnabas : You didn't ask.

• Lehrer : You were looking at the Castle?

  K. : Yes. I'm a stranger here. I arrived yesterday evening.

  Lehrer : You don't like the Castle?

  K. : What? Don't like the Castle? Why do you assume I don't like it?

  Lehrer : Strangers never do.

• Schwarzer : Forgive me for waking you. I'm the castle warden's son. No one may stay here without permission of the Castle. You do not possess the necessary permit. At least, you haven't produced one.

  K. : What village have I wandered into? Is there a castle here?

  Schwarzer : Of course.

  K. : Then I'll just have to get a permit.

  Schwarzer : In the middle of the night?

  K. : Is that not possible? Then why did you wake me up?

  Schwarzer : To inform you that you must leave the Castle limits immediately.

• K. : Where's the equipment?

  Jeremias : We don't have any.

  K. : The equipment I entrusted you with.

  Jeremias : We don't have any.

  K. : Do you know anything about surveying?

  Jeremias : No.

• Vorsteher : I must tell you the entire disagreeable truth: We don't need a Land Surveyor.

  K. : But I've been hired as Land Surveyor.

  Vorsteher : There wouldn't be the slightest work for one here. The boundaries of our little properties have been marked out and properly recorded, and they rarely change hands. What would we need a Land Surveyor for?

• K. : I had an unpleasant encounter with this Schwarzer the day I arrived. He telephoned a deputy warden by the name of Fritz and was told I'd been taken on as Land Surveyor. How do you explain that?

  Vorsteher : It's very simple. There's no fixed telephone connection with the Castle and no switchboard to direct our calls. If you call someone at the Castle from here, all the telephones in the lower offices ring - or rather they would ring if nearly all of them weren't turned off. Now and then an overly tired official is in need of distraction, especially in the evening or at night, and turns the ringer back on. Then we get an answer though an answer that's no more than a joke. Look around. I certainly deal often with the authorities, yet I have no telephone.

  K. : So in the end it's all unclear and irresolvable.

• K. : Do you know where I'm going?

  Frieda : Yes.

  K. : And you're not holding me back?

  Frieda : You'll find so many obstacles in your way. What could anything I say matter?