The Trial

The Trial

Directed by Orson Welles • 1962 • France, Italy, Yugoslavia
Starring Anthony Perkins, Jeanne Moreau, Elsa Martinelli

A feverishly inspired take on Franz Kafka’s novel, Orson Welles’s THE TRIAL casts Anthony Perkins as the bewildered office drone Josef K., whose arrest for an unspecified crime plunges him into a menacing bureaucratic labyrinth of guilt, corruption, and paranoia. Exiled from Hollywood and creatively unchained, Welles poured his ire at the studio system, the blacklist, and all forms of totalitarian oppression into this cinematic statement—a bold, personal film that he himself considered one of his greatest. Dizzying camera angles, expressionistic lighting, increasingly surreal locations—Welles unleashed the full force of his visual brilliance to convey the nightmarish disorientation of a world gone mad.

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The Trial
  • The Trial
    1:59:23
    The Trial

    The Trial

    Directed by Orson Welles • 1962 • France, Italy, Yugoslavia
    Starring Anthony Perkins, Jeanne Moreau, Elsa Martinelli

    A feverishly inspired take on Franz Kafka’s novel, Orson Welles’s THE TRIAL casts Anthony Perkins as the bewildered office drone Josef K., whose arrest for an unspecified crime pl...

Extras

  • THE TRIAL Commentary
    1:59:23
    THE TRIAL Commentary

    THE TRIAL Commentary

    Produced in 2017, this interview features biographer and film historian Alan K. Rode (“Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film”) discussing THE BREAKING POINT and its director, Michael Curtiz.

  • Filming THE TRIAL
    1:23:51
    Filming THE TRIAL

    Filming THE TRIAL

    In 1981, director Orson Welles participated in a Q&A for a screening of THE TRIAL at the University of Southern California. Shot by cinematographer Gary Graver, this footage was to be the basis for a documentary that Welles was planning to make on the production of the film. That documentary was ...

  • Orson Welles on "Vive le cinéma!"
    29:13
    Orson Welles on "Vive le cinéma!"

    Orson Welles on "Vive le cinéma!"

    Directed by Jacques Rozier, this 1972 episode of the French television program Vive le cinéma! was hosted by actor and frequent Orson Welles collaborator Jeanne Moreau. Over lunch at the Ritz Paris hotel, Moreau speaks with Welles about their respective careers and the director’s experience livin...

  • Orson Welles, Architect of Light
    23:21
    Orson Welles, Architect of Light

    Orson Welles, Architect of Light

    This program features director of photography Edmond Richard recounting his experiences working with director Orson Welles on THE TRIAL.

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