You say you understand

"You say you understand" - Ημερολόγιο Bennett

"You say you understand", says Franz in the film*, "but if you do and you do nothing about it then you're worse than the others. You're evil." This is an echo of Kafka's own remark that to write is to do the devil's work. And to say that it is the devil's work does not excuse it. One glibly despises the photographer who zooms in on the starving child or the dying soldier without offering help. Writing is not different.

*Το ημερολόγιο γράφεται στη διάρκεια των γυρισμάτων της τηλεταινίας The Insurance Man, που προβλήθηκε στο BBC2 το Φεβρουάριο του 1986. Ο Bennett είναι ο σεναριογράφος του φιλμ.