The blackest of Welles' comedies.
Comment
02/09/06
The Trial (1963)
89 %
Reviews Counted: 27 Fresh: 24 Rotten:3 Average Rating: 7.4/10
Runtime: 2 hrs
Synopsis: THE TRIAL is Orson Welles's claustrophobic adaptation of Franz Kafka's surreal tale of fear and paranoia in a nameless society. Tinged with background jazz, filmed in shadowy black and white--mostly with direct light--THE TRIAL looks like a classic film noir, with angled close-ups and... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, Elsa Martinelli
Reviews
Top Critic
Orson Welles' bounced Czech, via Kafka. Not the masterpiece that many Welles fanatics claim, but intriguing and outrageous enough for genuine appreciation.
07/27/07
Though debatable as an adaptation of the Franz Kafka novel, Orson Welles's nightmarish, labyrinthine comedy of 1962 remains his creepiest and most disturbing work; it's also a lot more influential than people usually admit.
04/06/07
Welles applied his bravura directorial style to Kafka's landmark 1925 novel about Joseph K (Perkins), an office clerk who gets arrested without being told why.
08/29/06
Welles' adaptation of Kafka's famous work is one of his most innovative and bizarre, a trip through the surreal that would have done Kafka proud.
05/24/05
A great filmmaker who is an excellent guide into a Kafkaesque nightmare.
05/22/05
At best, it is another demonstration of the camera vers atility of Mr. Welles; at worse, a further Kafka demonstration extending to the demanding medium of the screen.
05/10/05
Top Critic
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06/14/04
The haphazard production might have doomed most directors, but it turns out to be the perfect way for Welles to enhance the dreamlike quality of the source material.
05/12/03
A singularly unique -- though somewhat flawed -- literary adaptation that mixes that modern and the baroque with luminous black and white photography.
03/25/03
Welles' interpreation of the Kafka classic takes a few liberties, but is suitably thoughtful and creepy.
01/23/03
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