Orson Welles' The Trial
by Orson Welles
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DVD details
Actor: Anthony Perkins, Jess Hahn, Orson WellesDirector: Orson Welles
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: NTSC
Running Time: 118 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-02-02
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Miracle Pictures
DVD Reviews of Orson Welles' The Trial
DVD Review: Trial on trial
Summary: 1 Stars
I really don't think this works. Is it deep and meaningful, just because it borrows from Kafka? The theme of `man against an uncaring bureaucracy' only works if you are drawn into the life of the main character, which I wasn't. (Yes I know this isn't all its about.) Surrealism wasn't just stringing a few illogical, off beat ideas together. I don't think this film is thought provoking or surreal to have sets furnished with stacks of rubbish newspapers and other documents. What was the purpose behind a whole bunch of candles decorating a set? In the end I really don't care if that is supposed to mean anything or not.
There are some very good actors in this film, Anthony Perkins for one. Orson Welles as K's legal advocate, is commanding, especially the way wells uses his fabulous voice, but why is he in bed the whole time? Look, I know that there are answers to that, but they are ridiculous, and it just doesn't add to the Kafkaesque. If this is supposed to be a sort of existential psychological thriller; then just doesn't work. Where is the frustration, the torment and the mental anguish? I've been put through far worse trials teaching for the Victorian education department!
The cinematography is reminiscent of, but not as good as `The red desert' by Michelangelo Antonioni, which was produced around the same time. The film quality in `The Trial' varies enormously; really sharp images of portraits and some great shots of eyes, but any wider shots are out of focus. The contrast varies badly and attempts at dramatic, back lit, rim lighting for example, are just too subtle for the quality of the film's cinematography to pull off.
Now about the audio: There is some really nice music in this film, classical and jazz. I don't know what went wrong with the recording of the dialogue but it sounds like it has been dubbed! The `office' scenes remind me of `Brazil' by Terry Gilliam, and whilst it isn't the same film; `Brazil' does a much better job at very similar kinds of themes. For me `The Trial' is just trying far too hard to be deep and meaningful.
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Description of Orson Welles' The Trial
"Josef K. wakes up in the morning and finds the police in his room. They tell him that he is on trial but nobody tells him what he is being accused of. In order to protect his innocence, he tries to look behind the facade of the judicial system. Unfortunately, this is a fruitless and unrealistic goal, leading to a tortuous series of events."Bestsellers in DVD
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