Acclaimed Russian theater director Valeri Fokin offers a unique take on one of Kakfa's greatest short stories. Yevgeni Mironov stars as Gregor Samsa, the mild-mannered clerk who awakens to find himself transformed into a giant insect. Without the aid of special effects or outlandish makeup and costuming, Fokin succeeds in constructing a compelling and plausible transformation thanks in large part to a strong performance from Mironov. Fokin's sensitivity to the story's exploration of class tensions in early 1900s Prague is just as telling in the post-Soviet Russian era.