The Audience

Amedeo, an army officer on leave, travels to Rome genuinely intent on having a private audience with Pope Paul VI. This peaceful mission comes to the attention of a Vatican police commissioner, who sends Amedeo on a roller-coaster jaunt involving a series of absurd situations, from his arrest and harassment from officials and the Pontifical Swiss Guard, to an improbable affair with a high-class prostitute. For many months, Amedeo stumbles through Vatican officialdom, desperately searching for someone to help him. What Ferreri originally intended as a faithful filmic adaptation of Kafka’s "The Castle" became a tragicomic allegory loosely inspired by the novel, exploring the intricate labyrinth of relationships between the citizen and Power. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)