The Trial is Orson Welles' attempt to adapt Franz Kafka's tale to the silver screen, and the success of that adaptation is an interesting case. The film's visual style and atmosphere are impeccable, but its plot seems to be tenuously put together. This is not surprising, as the source material was never completed by Kafka, and was never intended to be published. The book was assembled after his death by his executor out of the unordered (and sometimes unfinished) chapters which Kakfa had written. The adaptation deals with this by playing the tale as very surreal, which is brought out most excellently by the sets. Welles used an abandoned train station to construct his giant spacious sets, which evoke strange responses with their industrial decay, open work places of endless repetition, and claustrophobia. All the settings are strange and off-putting in the best of ways. The cinematography too is incredible, with exaggerated and unrealistic lighting picked up by the canted and unusual angles to create an unsettling effect. The cast also works wonderfully, as Perkins gives one of his best performances as the protagonist Joseph K. The filmic aspects of the work are all wonderfully executed, but the film doesn't quite pull it off. This is due to the problems with adapting a work which was itself unfinished. However, this shortcoming can be overlooked, as this is one of Welles' best works, a daring work of cinema to be enjoyed and appreciated.

If asked what You consider the Best Film from Orson Welles, You might answer "Citizen Kane" (1941), or "The Lady from Shanghai" (1947), or "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942), or "Touch of Evil" (1958). But when asked the same Question, Orson Welles Replied without Hesitation, "The Trial" (1962).It is a Magnificent, Bombastic, Electrifying, Surreal, and Stunning display of Cinematic Grandiosity and Expressionistic Excess. Every Scene, every Shot is Cinemagraphic. Seeing Stills from it are Impressive. This Film, from the Franz Kafka Novel, is updated occasionally to include Modern Technology like Computers and the "Modernized" Ending, but the Dystopian Vision could be from Any Period After or just Before a Holocaust.Outdoors there is not a Tree or Shrub In Sight and Indoor Plants have been Reduced to Cacti. inside the Humongous and Intimidating Buildings the Trees seem to have all been used up and made into Pulp, producing Books, Pamphlets, and Paper Records on Everyone and Everything. Today's Equivalent is the huge Data Storage Complex that the NSA has built in Utah. To Say that Kafka or Welles were Ahead of Their Time is an Understatement.This is a Perplexing, Dream-State of a Movie that is prefaced in the Introduction so it should come as No Surprise that the Film is the Least on Logic. But it is most Effective on its Visualizations of a Nightmare where an "Innocent" Man is "Accused" of Crimes without Warrants just because the "Law" Can Legally do that, so They do.This sends Anthony Perkins, as Josef K, into a Labyrinth of Bizarre Characters and even more Bizarre Surroundings. The Look of the Film is as Different and Demanding as anything put out at the Time and seems to Play with the Brain like a Hallucinogen, just like Kafka's World. What Unfolds is at times an Uneasy Watch and there are Hints of Pedophilia and Sexual Deviance that add Weight to the Accusations or more Accurately the Suspicions of "Big Brother".Note...If You are the type of Movie Buff that watches Films over and over again, here is an odd recommendation. After viewing this a number of times, watch it without the sound and just the picture, and at some other time, watch it with just the sound and no picture. Both may be a rewarding experience and may convince why Welles thought this His best Film.Note 2…Beware of the many inferior Public Domain Prints that are awful. It has now been Offered on Blu-Ray and Good Quality DVDS.

Josef K (Anthony Perkins) wakes up one morning and finds the police in his room. They question him as people from the office searches through his stuff. The proper but unhelpful police won't tell him anything about his case. Everything he says is taken out of context. Eventually there is a trial where nothing is truly explained.Director Orson Welles is putting some of his skills into bringing this Franz Kafka tale onto the big screen. It's a stripped down narrative with some very long stationary uncut scenes and some wildly unconventional visuals. The elderly neighbor Burstner tells him that he's being investigated for something very abstract. That's how the whole movie feels. It's very abstract. It's very strange. It's very artsy. The dubbing also lends a very surreal feel. It makes for a very odd viewing experience and not a particularly compelling one. Anthony Perkins shows his vast acting skills, but this is no popcorn movie. The copy I saw wasn't terribly sharp. It's definitely not for the casual movie goer.

The Trial is a psychological drama that deals with a state of mind we all experience at some time...fear. In this movie, we sense a Cold War atmosphere where anonymous and uncaring people threaten one man's freedom, dignity, happiness or even his life. Police officers invade the room of one citizen, played by Anthony Perkins, and charge him with an unknown crime. Later, he walks into a large chamber where he is face to face with what looks like the tyranny of mob rule. Director Orson Welles (who also acts in the movie) was not one to shy away from new ideas and this film takes the viewer through a sequence of settings that we might experience as a nightmare: shadows, strange voices and faces, creaking noises, and dark, empty spaces. What I felt watching this movie were the traumas when the terror fear becomes reality, as when thugs are given power to arrest people through trumped-up charges. Lives are turned upside down at a moment's notice. Fear of the authorities, the police, and others in positions of power is universal. All of us fear the heavy hand of authority, even if we don't experience it as a daily occurrence. Alfred Hitchcock talked about his fear of the police, and he explored one actual incident in a documentary/drama called The Wrong Man. The romantic scenes added some relief to the brooding atmosphere. Romy Schneider was particularly good and very beautiful. The movie is abstract and is meant to convey terror but does not tell us what the story is. I tried unsuccessfully to try to understand the plot because the sequence is rather disjointed. I think Welles wants the viewer to feel the overwhelming terror with only the broad outline of a story. In this he succeeds very well but the viewer may come away feeling confusion as well as terror.