The Trial
Reviews
CinemaSerf
There is something really quite terrifying about the scenario in which "Josef K" (a career-best performance from Anthony Perkins, I think) finds himself in this rather sinister thriller. He is awakened one morning to find the police in his bedroom. He is arrested and told he is to stand trial. For what, you might think? Well, that's what he wonders too - and every effort he makes to establish just what he is supposed to have done fails to deliver. His detention is hardly traditional either. He is largely free to come and go as he pleases, provided always that he is available to attend his questioning sessions by those who seem rather arbitrarily charged with deciding his guilt or innocence. As his (and our) frustrations grow, he explores the lives of those close to him - might the source of his predicament lie there? Luckily, his uncle learns of his situation and engages the learned advocate "Hastler" (Orson Welles) - but is he likely to prove an help or an hindrance? This story is Kafka as his very best. Machiavellian scheming mixed with the ultimate in "Big Brother" state manipulation; the disabling lack of information and the increasing exasperation of young "Josef" are successfully transferred onto an audience that shares his fears and apprehensions. Gradually, we learn a great deal about this man, his flaws, foibles and fetishes, but still are uncertain as to just what he is supposed to have done! A considerable degree of the menace here emanates from the dark photography and from an effective supporting cast who excel in perpetuating the mystery, too. Welles directs this with considerable aplomb, Jean Ledrut provides an evocative and mysterious score to accompany a screenplay that delivers the sense of vexation and chagrin well and compellingly. Fans of horror films ought to watch this too - it's one of the scariest films I have ever seen.
CaseyReese
.
badelf
The Trial: Welles's Brilliant Exposition of Guiltless Guilt Orson Welles's "The Trial" exists in a lineage of dystopian narratives that includes Kafka's original text of the same name, George Orwell's "1984", and Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" film - all works that explore bureaucratic dehumanization and the absurdity of institutional power. If the first layer of the film reveals bureaucratic absurdity and inaccessible justice, its deeper strata explore a more insidious human condition: the phenomenon of "guiltless guilt" - an existential state where individuals internalize blame for circumstances beyond their control. Josef K (Anthony Hopkins) isn't just a victim of an incomprehensible system; he's a subconscious participant in his own psychological prosecution. Welles suggests that guilt isn't an external judgment, but an internal landscape where humans reflexively blame themselves for random misfortunes. This psychological mechanism echoes broader historical traumas. Like Kafka's prescient writing before the rise of Nazism, Welles exposes how undefined, internalized guilt enables systemic oppression. The nameless accusation becomes a mirror: "Perhaps I deserve this," people whisper to themselves, thus facilitating their own marginalization. Religious narratives - from Eve's original sin to cultural mythologies of personal culpability - have long programmed this psychological response. We carry lucky charms, we apologize for being victims, we internalize blame as a perverse form of control. In both "The Trial" and "Brazil", the visual language becomes a physical manifestation of this psychological oppression. Welles's stark, expressionist landscapes and Gilliam's grotesque, mechanical environments aren't mere backdrops, but external representations of internal psychological states. The labyrinthine bureaucracies become metaphors for the human mind's capacity for self-persecution, where architectural complexity mirrors psychological entrapment. Welles and Gilliam share a crucial insight: systemic oppression isn't imposed from outside, but cultivated from within. Josef K and Sam Lowry aren't just victims; they're unwitting architects of their own psychological prisons. The surreal, nightmarish visual styles become a perfect translation of this internal landscape of "guiltless guilt" - where the most effective chains are the ones we forge for ourselves. "The Trial" is less a film about justice than a profound exploration of how humans psychologically prepare themselves for, and participate in, their own oppression.
Movie Recommendation
Hitler's Irish Movies2007-01-30RTE docuementary about the films produced in Nazi Germany about Ireland.More...
The Stone Tape1972-12-25A research team from an electronics company move into an old Victorian house to start work on finding a new recording medium. When team member Jill Greeley witnesses a ghost, team director Peter Brock decides not only to analyse the apparition, which he believes is a psychic impression trapped in a stone wall (dubbed a "stone tape"), but to exorcise it too - with terrifying results...More...
Never Be Boring: Billy Wilder2017-10-28A funny walk through the life story of Billy Wilder (1906-2002), a cinematic genius; a portrait of a filmmaker who never was a boring man, a superb mind who had ten commandments, of which the first nine were: “Thou shalt not bore.”More...
Mountains2024-08-16While looking for a new home for his family, a Haitian demolition worker is faced with the realities of redevelopment as he is tasked with dismantling his rapidly gentrifying Miami neighborhood.More...
Dial M for Murder1981-04-09A London businessman concocts an intricate plan to murder his unfaithful wife for her money.More...
Näköradiomiehen ihmeelliset siekailut1969-02-28TV studio organizer Mikko Syvärinen becomes the admired comedian K. Ovimikko through a series of mishaps. However, Mikko's popularity wanes when he switches from door comedy to window comedy. His show is taken off the air, his girlfriend leaves him, and he loses his apartment. Once again, Mikko sets out to rebuild his TV career by becoming a producer again.More...
The Parts You Lose2019-03-14An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.More...
Outer Space1999-01-01A young woman move towards a house that holds a potentially dangerous spirit that has been tormenting her. The woman tries to fight against the film itself as it starts to cause the world to collapse.More...
Room at the Top1958-12-29An ambitious young accountant schemes to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter, despite falling in love with a married older woman.More...
Our Time2018-09-28A family lives in the Mexican countryside raising fighting bulls. Esther is in charge of running the ranch, while her husband Juan, a world-renowned poet, raises and selects the beasts. Although in an open marriage, their relationship begins to crumble when Esther falls in love with an American horsebreaker and Juan is unable to control his jealousy.More...
The War Game1966-04-13A docudrama depicting a hypothetical nuclear attack on Britain. After backing the film's development, the BBC refused to air it, publicly stating "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting." It debuted in theaters in 1966 and went on to great acclaim, but remained unseen on British television until 1985.More...
The Primevals2023-07-23Deep in the Himalayas, a group of sherpas kills a gigantic humanoid creature. Convinced that it is the legendary Yeti, Dr. Claire Collier organizes an expedition with her former student Matt Connor and hunter Rondo Montana, among others, to search for more specimens. But what awaits them is something that none of them could have imagined. A colorful fusion of real image and stop-motion that is reminiscent of fantastic films from the 1980s.More...
Pigsty1969-09-02Two dramatic stories. In an undetermined past, a young cannibal (who killed his own father) is condemned to be torn to pieces by some wild beasts. In the second story, Julian, the young son of a post-war German industrialist, is on the way to lie down with his farm's pigs, because he doesn't like human relationships.More...
Chimes at Midnight1965-12-22Henry IV usurps the English throne, sets in motion the factious War of the Roses and now faces a rebellion led by Northumberland scion Hotspur. Henry's heir, Prince Hal, is a ne'er-do-well carouser who drinks and causes mischief with his low-class friends, especially his rotund father figure, John Falstaff. To redeem his title, Hal may have to choose between allegiance to his real father and loyalty to his friend.More...
Birdman of Alcatraz1962-07-04After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement. Driven nearly mad by loneliness and despair, Stroud's life gains new meaning when he happens upon a helpless baby sparrow in the exercise yard and nurses it back to health. Despite having only a third grade education, Stroud goes on to become a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind bars than most people find in the outside world.More...
Catch-221970-06-24A WWII military pilot makes a valiant effort to be certified insane in order to be excused from flying missions. But there's a catch.More...
Written on the Wind1956-10-04Mitch Wayne is a geologist working for the Hadleys, an oil-rich Texas family. While the patriarch, Jasper, works hard to establish the family business, his irresponsible son, Kyle, is an alcoholic playboy, and his daughter, Marylee, is the town tramp. Mitch harbors a secret love for Kyle's unsatisfied wife, Lucy -- a fact that leaves him exposed when the jealous Marylee accuses him of murder.More...
Splendor in the Grass1961-10-10A fragile Kansas girl's unrequited and forbidden love for a handsome young man from the town's most powerful family drives her to heartbreak and madness.More...
The Other Side of the Wind2018-11-02Surrounded by fans and sceptics, grizzled director J.J. "Jake" Hannaford returns from years abroad in Europe to a changed Hollywood, where he attempts to make his innovative comeback film. This film was started in 1970 by Orson Welles but never completed during his lifetime.More...
Straw Dogs1971-11-25David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.More...
Similar Movies
Bláznova smrt
1973-03-24At the center of the crime story is the very large Kremp family, living in the family villa with other relatives and a subtenant. The parents had four adult children, two sons and two daughters, one of whom recently died. The investigation focuses on the recent death of their son Jan. The young man was considered the family "fool", whom no one except his mother liked, because he played various mischievous tricks on everyone. However, his death, as Captain Exner investigates, was not an unfortunate accident, but a murder. Who could have been interested in his death? Was the murderer someone from the immediate family? Captain Exner is looking for a motive...Land and Freedom
1995-04-07David Carr is a British Communist who is unemployed. In 1936, when the Spanish Civil War begins, he decides to fight for the Republican side, a coalition of liberals, communists and anarchists, so he joins the POUM militia and witnesses firsthand the betrayal of the Spanish revolution by Stalin's followers and Moscow's orders.Charly
2002-09-27Sam Roberts thinks he has all the answers: the purpose of life, the meaning of love, the plan for a perfect future. Until Charly walks into his life.Blackout
1954-03-19When a beautiful young woman suddenly offers inebriated Casey Morrow a lot of money for a quick and easy job, he doesn't ask too many questions. But when the girl's father is found murdered the following day and Morrow's coat is soaked with blood, he must unravel the mystery to clear his name.Dmitro Goritsvit
1962-02-26Based on the novel by Mikhail Stelmakh “A Big Family”. The second film of the trilogy (“Human Blood is Not a Water”, “Dmitro Goritsvit”, “People Don’t Know Everything”) tells about one of the first collective farms of Ukraine, the fight against the kulaks and the love of the communist Dmitro Goritsvit for Marta, the Petliurist's daughter, who guilty of the death of Dmitro's father.Hakkenden
2024-10-01Takizawa Bakin, a popular Edo period author, begins to recount a story he is planning in front of his friend, the artist Katsushika Hokusai. The story is about eight warriors who, each carrying a jewel, gather together as if guided by fate and embark on a harsh journey to fight the curse of the Satomi family. Hokusai is drawn into the story that Bakin is telling, and visits Bakin on various occasions to hear the rest of the story, and a strange relationship between the two begins. The serialization becomes Bakin's life's work, with the idea of "rewarding good and punishing evil in a world where evil is rampant," but after 28 years, as the story finally approaches its climax, Bakin begins to lose his sight. With the completion of the story in doubt, he receives an unexpected proposal from his daughter-in-law. Will the story ever be completed?The Idiots
No data for this movieFyodor Dostoyevsky and his wife Anna travel to Europe for their honeymoon and end up staying in a health resort in Switzerland, only to return to Russia after four years. Fyedya can’t shake his roulette habit and keeps losing their money. His wife accepts this fate since he keeps assuring her that it’s all for inspiration and soon he shall write his to-be masterpiece, 'The Idiot'.Battle Under Orion
2009-06-13The story of a Japanese sub's last mission during WWII.Bear Island
1979-12-05A group of people converge on a barren Arctic island. They have their reasons for being there but when a series of mysterious accidents and murders take place, a whole lot of darker motives become apparent. Could the fortune in buried Nazi gold be the key to the mystery? Donald Sutherland and Vanessa Redgrave investigateNicholas and Alexandr...
1971-11-29Tsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.When Eight Bells Toll...
1971-04-30Phillip Calvert is a British Treasury secret service agent assigned to stop the ruthless pirating of millions in gold bullion off the western coast of the Scottish highlands. His search takes him to the small port town of Torbay on the Isle of Torbay where numerous fishing boats, yachts and people have been mysteriously disappearing. A trail of deceit and subterfuge leads him to Cypriot tycoon and shipping magnate Sir Anthony Skouras and his beautiful wife, Charlotte aboard their luxury yacht anchored off the coast, who may hold the answers to the truth.Brave New World
1980-03-07A man who grew up in a primitive society educating himself by reading Shakespeare is allowed to join the futuristic society where his parents are from. However, he cannot adapt to their repressive ways.Save the Tiger
1973-02-14A businessman's professional struggles begin to conflict with his personal life over the course of two days.Reversal of Fortune
1990-10-19Wealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.Resurrection
2026-04-01In the wake of a traumatic incident at a funeral, an aging widow is faced with a bizarre, impossible choice.The Long, Hot Summer
1958-05-17Accused barn burner and conman Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town and quickly ingratiates himself with its richest family, the Varners.I Miss You, Hugs and ...
1978-09-08Successful businessman Charles Kruschen (Donald Pilon) is accused of bludgeoning to death his beautiful but manipulative model wife Magdalene (Elke Sommer). As the trial draws to a close, Charles reflects on the events leading up to the terrible incident...The Fringe Dwellers
1986-10-26The story of an Aboriginal family's attempts to forge a new life for themselves within the segregated society. At the urging of headstrong teenager Trilby, the Comeaways relocate from their family camp, to a house in the main town.As the Clouds Scatter...
1961-07-09A provincial bus driver plans to marry his conductress, but one night he glimpses the woman he once loved, which throws him into turmoil.A Royal Queens Christ...
2021-12-11A prince finds his way to Queens during Christmas when a local woman enlists his help with a children's Christmas show.