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Amazon.com essential video
Orson Welles's 1962 take on Franz Kafka's nightmare comedy stars Anthony Perkins as a twitchy K, a man accused of a crime that is never specified. The story has been filmed several times over the years, but not quite with the air of noir fable Welles brings to it. Beginning with an unexpected prologue in which Welles, in voiceover, tells a haunting parable while we look at artwork by pioneer pinscreen animators Claire Parker and Alexandre Alexeieff, The Trial is one surprising and visually startling chapter after another. The sense of an unrelieved, labyrinthine passage through an incoherent world--in which a very real but determinedly unclear guilt dogs poor K--is merciless but compelling to see, and resonates profoundly with Welles's obsession with the power and nature of illusion. A cast heavy on female icons from the '60s includes Jeanne Moreau, Elsa Martinelli, and Romy Schneider. Welles favorite Akim Tamiroff is also on hand, and Welles himself plays the Advocate. --Tom Keogh
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another brilliant Wellesian vision. Harrowing, tedious and frightening,
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This review is from: The Trial (VHS Tape)
What The Trial lacks in comprehension (purposely at that) it makes up for in cinematography, set design, art direction and music. Essentially a nightmare tale, Joseph K. slowly comes to madness as his accusation for some unknown crime leads him into the abyss of a legal system, full of strange, abusive, mysterious, confusing people.As a film I couldn't sit through it at once, I had to get up and return a couple times because the convoluted situation makes it hard to follow. This aspect is surely purposeful, Welles is a master of storytelling and images, and the production itself proves amazing. I would highly recommend this for it's adaptation of Kafka's posthumous story, beautiful and horrible direction, cinematography, set and art direction and music.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Huh? I'm Lost....,
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This review is from: The Trial (Widescreen) (DVD)
Orson Welles' so called "personal favourite film", based on the novel by Franz Kafka does remain more or less consistent with the original written work, though Welles has changed a few things to amplify effect or to introduce characters.The poor quality of the reel (the film was nearly lost), also make it that some lines go unheard and make characters difficult to identify. The "mise en scene" also adds to this confusion, with Josef K. walking through numerous strange rooms, corridors and halls. Still though, the film can help visualize certain elements from the book that might be difficult to imagine otherwise. Also, it is important to remember that Kafka's work was unfinished and unassembled, and Welles has attempted to reflect this non-linearity within the film. All in all, I do recommend you see this film if you have read or plan on reading the original work, but you might be very confused by the storyline without this base knowledge.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Guilty!,
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This review is from: The Trial (Widescreen) (DVD)
What is Joseph K guilty of? There are a number of possibilities, none of which I will suggest here. I don't want to be guilty of ruining the fun of figuring that out for yourself. This movie is Welles at his brilliant best. Many great directors seem to have a trio of films that represent their greatest work. With Welles, those three seem to be Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil and The Trial. The Magnificent Ambersons wsa murdered by the studio and an editor sent in to hack together a new ending. But the Welles directed part is so good I guess it has to rank with the above mentioned three. Then there is Othello, ruined by poor funding; but is it a wreck of a movie? I guess it belongs with the above mentioned four. Forgive me, I guess I'm guilty of digressing, as well as assuming that one can pick three of Welles's movies that stand out from his other work. What I can say about The Trial is that Welles had enough money to make his ideas work as they should on screen. When a Welles movie has enough money to cover technical costs the movie is usually great. The Trial is no exception. The Milestone DVD is a little costly; but you get an excellent looking transfer, which is all you really need to make this movie worth owning.
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