The Trial

Rating:
Summary: Orson Welles's best film
Review: Say what you will about Citizen Kane or Touch of Evil (both horribly overrated in my eyes); this film is Welles at his best. Wonderfully shot and acted, it comes across very foreign, much like great, confusing French noirs. The Trial clearly shows the influence Welles had upon David Lynch, amongst other directors. Horribly underrated and ignored, it's a must-see.

Rating:
Summary: Somebody Goofed!
Review: Somebody at the mastering plant was sleeping because the voice and picture are out of sync with one another, making this look like an English dub of a foreign movie. And yes I know Welles often post dubbed his films after shooting, but this DVD will have you thinking of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN instead of Kafka. Beware.(Laserlight Edition)

Rating:
Summary: This Laserlight verison is NOT the restored version...
Review: that everyone else here is reviewing. It is a scratchy public domain version. Not a bad buy...definately a bargain basemenet edition of a great film.

Rating:
Summary: Don't let it scare you off
Review: The first time I saw this movie, I thought it was the weirdest and oddest thing I had ever seen. I only rented it because I love Anthony Perkins. Well, I ended up reading the novel. I recommend doing this first. It makes this movie much clearer. Now I love this movie. It is gripping, intriguing and even funny at times. I hope you love the scenes with Joseph K. and Leni as much as I do!

Rating:
Summary: A nice translation of the novel
Review: The thing that struck me most about this movie was how similar the visuals were to what I had envisioned while reading Kafka's book. Some of the scenes seemed stolen right from my memory. Perkins does well in the role with only a few scenes not seeming up to par. The only thing that would improve this would be to clean up the frames (a la The Third Man) but the overall quality is still quite good.

Rating:
Summary: Guilty as charged! But for what? We'll never know.
Review: The TRIAL (originally titled LE PROCÉS)proves once again the visual acumen of its director and star, ORSON WELLES. Created outside the Hollywood Studio system, it does not have the monetary backing of his other more popular works, CITIZEN KANE, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS or TOUCH OF EVIL. But, that is also where WELLES succeeds most. He uses the everyday environments in a surreal way, shadow and light ever building the paranoia of the stories accused, "Joseph K." (ANTHONY PERKINS, Post-PSYCHO). Never told what his crime might be, "K." looks for answers but finds that every move he makes proves to be all the worse for his case. Based on a story by Franz Kafka, the film resembles a feature length TWILIGHT ZONE done through the eyes of WELLES. You'll never look at corporate beuracracy the same way ever again. Definitely not for everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Guilty as charged! But for what? We'll never know.
Review: The TRIAL (originally titled LE PROCÉS)proves once again the visual acumen of its director and star, ORSON WELLES. Created outside the Hollywood Studio system, it does not have the monetary backing of his other more popular works, CITIZEN KANE, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS or TOUCH OF EVIL. But, that is also where WELLES succeeds most. He uses the everyday environments in a surreal way, shadow and light ever building the paranoia of the stories accused, "Joseph K." (ANTHONY PERKINS, Post-PSYCHO). Never told what his crime might be, "K." looks for answers but finds that every move he makes proves to be all the worse for his case. Based on a story by Franz Kafka, the film resembles a feature length TWILIGHT ZONE done through the eyes of WELLES. You'll never look at corporate beuracracy the same way ever again. Definitely not for everyone.

Rating:
Summary: A great adaptation of Kafka's book
Review: The Trial is Orson Welles' adaptation of the Franz Kafka novel of the same name. It follows the story of Josef K., a man who finds himself in a nightmarish version of reality he neither understands, nor can escape from. It begins with Josef K. (played by Anthony Perkins) being awakened by police officers, who refuse to tell him the crime he's accused of. He's placed under arrest, but not taken into custody - they allow him to continue his "normal" life. Instead, he is taken away at bizarre moments to appear in court, which is a distorted mockery of the concept of justice. There is no judge, no jury, no stated charges, no burden of proof, no lawyers, and no one that assumes impartiality or responsibility. When Josef K. asks for a lawyer, he's told it's not necessary, since it's an "informal" questioning. After the "court" appearance, Josef K. goes to enlist "the Advocate" to defend him. The Advocate (played by Orson Welles) is portrayed as a demi-god of legal access and information not available to the common man - to be worshiped and feared at all costs, since without him, they are nothing. However, in the end, Josef K. is sentenced and eventually executed for these elusive crimes.
The Trial is a merging of the existential philosophies of Kafka with the cinematic genius of Welles. Josef K. is not a particularly empathetic character - he's weak, morally flexible, and passively pushed along this nightmare. In either ending, (the book or the film), Josef K. doesn't fight against his fate, or meekly accepts it. It embodies the existentialist view that Josef K.'s nightmare prison is one of his own making, and therefore only he is responsible for its injustices. Welles adds his own perspective in the sense that it reflected the subversive tactics of those in power around the judicial system during that time - a very Marxist perspective in the face of the McCarthy era, where the HUAC had frightening similarities to the nightmare court.
Overall, it's a film with many possible interpretations and meanings - that are neither right nor wrong, but dependent on the audience's own observations. Like most of Welles' and Kafka's work - you can either take it at face value, or as an intellectual piece - either way, it's a well done cinematic accomplishment.

Rating:
Summary: A great adaptation of Kafka's book
Review: The Trial is Orson Welles' adaptation of the Franz Kafka novel of the same name. It follows the story of Josef K., a man who finds himself in a nightmarish version of reality he neither understands, nor can escape from. It begins with Josef K. (played by Anthony Perkins) being awakened by police officers, who refuse to tell him the crime he's accused of. He's placed under arrest, but not taken into custody - they allow him to continue his "normal" life. Instead, he is taken away at bizarre moments to appear in court, which is a distorted mockery of the concept of justice. There is no judge, no jury, no stated charges, no burden of proof, no lawyers, and no one that assumes impartiality or responsibility. When Josef K. asks for a lawyer, he's told it's not necessary, since it's an "informal" questioning. After the "court" appearance, Josef K. goes to enlist "the Advocate" to defend him. The Advocate (played by Orson Welles) is portrayed as a demi-god of legal access and information not available to the common man - to be worshiped and feared at all costs, since without him, they are nothing. However, in the end, Josef K. is sentenced and eventually executed for these elusive crimes.
The Trial is a merging of the existential philosophies of Kafka with the cinematic genius of Welles. Josef K. is not a particularly empathetic character - he's weak, morally flexible, and passively pushed along this nightmare. In either ending, (the book or the film), Josef K. doesn't fight against his fate, or meekly accepts it. It embodies the existentialist view that Josef K.'s nightmare prison is one of his own making, and therefore only he is responsible for its injustices. Welles adds his own perspective in the sense that it reflected the subversive tactics of those in power around the judicial system during that time - a very Marxist perspective in the face of the McCarthy era, where the HUAC had frightening similarities to the nightmare court.
Overall, it's a film with many possible interpretations and meanings - that are neither right nor wrong, but dependent on the audience's own observations. Like most of Welles' and Kafka's work - you can either take it at face value, or as an intellectual piece - either way, it's a well done cinematic accomplishment.

Rating:
Summary: Now listen very very closely!
Review: The Trial is Welles at his best like his other masterpieces this film is confusing at times, stark, personel and a bit unnerving all of this adds up to repeat viewings. And the more you watch the more you realize how amazing and griping this story of a man accused of a crime for no reason is so damn heart stoppingly beautiful. perkins is in perfect paranoia form here stuttering and muttering through dialogue and key scenes. Welles is also very good in his brief scenes as a useless lawyer. But the true star of the film is the VISUALS. Welles knew this and decided to give the plot key scenes in edtiting instead of soundtrack cues. The scene where at Perkins job the with thousands of type writers are all typing on cue is just amazing and they all come to a halting stop to signify a change in direction cues like this are all over this flick and I love it. The camera's lense follows Perkins in such a manner as if to signify a person chasing hm through out the entire film and the use of overly large props is just priceless showing the viewer that even the characters seem not to belong in the world they live in but function in as a society. BUY this film and pay attention to detail the little nuances go along way!