Watch The Trial For Free

I love this movie so much

The Worst Film Ever

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

When I first read Franz Kafka book "The Process" I had doubts that someone would ever had courage to try and transport such a complex and almost abstract writing to cinema. Latter I found out that a movie based on this book had been made by Orson Wells in 1962. And he did it masterfully in a "dystopian noir" sort of a way. The Kafkaesque philosophy, was not only present but utterly celebrated. In the first few minutes of this movie I had serious doubts that Anthony Perkins was the right choice to play Joseph K. due to what appeared to be some overacting. As the film evolved he incontestably convinced me he was the character. Good performances by Romy Schneider as Leni and Akim Tamiroff as Bloch. Last but not least, the brilliant contributions by Orson Wells, as the director, writer, narrator and actor playing the Advocate Albert Hastler.

An office worker must go to trial...but he is never told what he did wrong.This and Citizen Kane are my two favourite Orson Welles movies.This film is about a guy's dream or nightmare. That is what you need to know from the start. Once you are fine with that it all comes together. I have had nightmares that look like this film, in every way (the extra large doors, people packed together in a large room, etc) . So I have a special bond with this flick.The Trial is a movie you only need to see once or twice in a lifetime, if you see it too many times it starts to feel a bit dull. Instead of being called entertainment, this movie can be called a totally unique experience that you will never forget.

"Nowadays you can hardly say anything against Orson Welles without invoking scorn and ridicule," Kristl mused."You were going to?""Not on purpose, but I feel a bit apprehensive about it. I mean you have a certain amount of leeway towards almost any other director, except for Welles.. You have to say he was a great guy..""Pff.." Henry said."Yeah.""You do not have to, with me," Henry said."Thanks.""So, I think it is an old boring slow moving that is a bit confusing, to say the least," Henry said."You think so?""I mean, black and white in 1962," Henry said."Uh, well..is that such a big thing?""Yeah.. and no action.""Okay..I feel compelled to come to the defense of this movie."Henry smiled, but he hid his smile behind his hand and pretended to take sip from his tea, "Hot," he remarked."Regardless of anything it's at least a decent film, although it seems to be all over the place," Kristl said."It looks like someone pasted a lot of 'scenes' together without much sense and pawned it off as a coherent movie," Henry said."Really?""Yeah.""It seems to be quite true to the book.. which means that any coherence in the movie, or any incoherence for that matter, must stem from the book," Kristl said."Then the books must be a bit of a confusing mess," Henry said. "Maybe, but I liked the movie, you know. It was surreal, strange and unsettling. Which seems appropriate to me..""Right.""For the Kafka story that is.""Oh, did you read it by the way?""No," Kristl shook her head."Me neither.""I think that goes for most of the audience," Kristl said."Yeah. So how you know it is fitting?""Well, other people say so that it is. Except for the ending. Which was thought off by Orson Welles. He felt it to be more appropriate. It seem to have to do with the holocaust. I am not quite sure. Seems more that the end is fitting to a cold war.""Yeah. But anyway, too old a movie for me really," Henry said."I think it's a good movie, but not astounding. Perkins is such a dubious choice. At times he is really excellent, but at other times he seems to be a poor choice. He has these wild mood swings. He constantly hovers between assertive and dejected. It's just odd how he swings from one attitude to the opposite.""Heh.""And there seems to be no development in his character. He just seems to go from one mood to the other depending on what is fitting for the scene at the moment. So there seems to be no humanit that drives him, just like: in this scene he should be angry and in this scene he should be desperate.""Ah.""It is just a bit to fabricated. A very nice fabrication, but a fabrication nevertheless.""Like most movies.""Yup. Did you know someone made a sequel to the trial?""Yes I did. Will Eisner made one called the Appeal. In it justice is done.""Oh you know..""Hey it's a comic. It was Eisner responding to Kafka. While Kafka painted a surreal world in which a man was the victim of soulless bureaucracy, Eisner seems to say that in a democratic society 'they' would not get away with it in the end.""Maybe someone should make a movie about that?" Henry said."Maybe someone will."www.meritcoba.com

Contains Some Spoilers! Reading Kafka's The Trial was very useful in after watching Welles's adaptation in that I was able to spot out various little changes to the plot. Most are minor but Welles manages to fit what happens in weeks in the book to over a single day in the film. I did feel as if some parts were a bit rushed but I guess Welles was trying to cut production-time and get the film in by a certain date. He also even plays the role of the Lawyer Huld, which was something I didn't realize till he confronts K in the scene in the chapel with the projection slide. If you're a fan of the book this film is very very visually striking and the acting by Perkins and Schineider is flawless. It lives up to the film in many ways but the only negative aspects were that the book captures the atmosphere better and more fluid.