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Mood:
- AtmosphericDisturbingSuspensefulBleakGloomy
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Plot:
- Anti HeroesFighting the SystemLegal ActionUncover TruthPsychologicalConspiraciesCourtroom DramaFalse Accusation more...
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Genres:
- DramaThrillerExpressionism
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Time/Period:
- 20th Century60s
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Place:
- RussiaCourtroom
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Praise:
- Critically Acclaimed
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Style:
- Surreal
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Based on:
- Based on Book
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Attitudes:
- SeriousSemi FantasticSlow
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The Trial, 1962
English
France, Italy, West Germany, Yugoslavia
Profile of The Trial
The Trial can be described as disturbing, atmospheric, and suspenseful. The plot revolves around a frame-up, legal action, and social decay. The main genres are drama and thriller. In terms of style, The Trial is expressionist and is surreal. In approach, it is serious. The storytelling is slow paced. The Trial is set, at least in part, in a courtroom. It is located in Russia. It takes place in the 1960s. The Trial is based on a book. The movie has received attention for being critically acclaimed.
Summary of The Trial
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 characters shrouded in mystery. Anthony Perkins stars as Josef K., a seemingly innocent young man who is arrested one morning for an unexplained crime by men who refuse to identify themselves. K., asserting his innocence, sets off on a bizarre series of confrontations with shady government agents, overwhelming faceless courtrooms, and pompous advocates who talk in riddles. His nightmare continues through narrow, dark passageways and colorless rooms where he witnesses various forms of torture and interrogation; some of what he comes upon has echoes of the Nazis and the Holocaust. And nearly everywhere he goes he stumbles over wads of paperwork (the kind that ultimately swallowed up Tuttle in Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL, a fascinating descendant of THE TRIAL). Perkins is wonderfully paranoid as he wanders aimlessly through the labyrinthine sets, which always seem to be closing in on him. THE TRIAL is an eerie nightmare of a film, one of which writer-director-costar Orson Welles was justifiably proud.
Details
| Language: | English |
| Country: | France, Italy, West Germany, Yugoslavia |
| Release date: | 20 February 1963 |
| Runtime: | 118 min |
Cast and Crew
as Josef K.
as Albert Hastler
Photos
