1. Have you seen this film?
Yes2. If yes to one, do you believe that this film should be released by the Criterion Collection?
No, there is currently a reasonably good print available and I would rather Criterion focus on unreleased films.3. If yes or no to two, why do you do you believe this film is worthy of a Criterion release?
YesI have seen The Trial, and I think Welles misjudged himself. I’d prefer to see Chimes at Midnight or Macbeth. Macbeth is flawed, but at its best it is an electrifying film (like the jabbering sounds of the witches, and the handling of soliloquies as interior monologues). I’d love to see a great remastered print of it. The Trial is certainly not a bad film by any means, and I have seen shoddy prints of it floating around, but it would not be a priority release for me. Sorry.
1.Yes
2.Yes, esp if in blu
3.For the nightmare logic RaySquirrel mentions – great atmosphere, really pulled me into that world. I think it’s one of Welles best, and quite possibly my personal favorite of his films.
I loved the Trial when I first saw it and think Welles got it all right in this film, whereas for me, his other films (I am talking of his rambling career post Amberson, with Lady from Shanghai having the brilliant mirror scene, but otherwise, showing a decline that continued for most of the rest of his directing career) just have too many flaws for my uncritical approval. The atmosphere is beautifully set up by Welles at the beginning, with the Kafka parable segment. All his sets are effective in evoking the atmosphere of the Kafkaesque world, and his choice of Anthony Perkins was spot on for this role. Sure, we have Perkins basically reprising Norman Bates – you half expect his "mother’ to turn up at any moment – but it works in the context of the story that Welles is presenting us. Welles gets a chance to bluster and cajole, very much like he no doubt would have been while directing on the set. Also, it has the great Akim Tamiroff giving yet another virtuoso performance in his long and distinguished career. As an example of a Welles directed film that works on all levels, of course it is a candidate for the Criterion full-blown treatment. It is many miles above Mr. Arkadin, which Criterion did such a wonderful job of restoring – but that was one of Welles’ failures, I am afraid.
1. YES, many times in different versions.
2. YES
3. YES – absolutely, with all the special extras. "The Trial’’ is masterpiece. I saw a laserdisc version years ago, where the commentaries mentioned the fact that the production was already out of money during the early part of the shooting. But Welles persevered, did many improvisations and filmed on location mostly in Eastern Europe ( Yugoslavia, if I’m not mistaken ) thus capturing the bleak, industrial and almost soulless dark background atmosphere.
1. Yes
2. Er… no, I actually agree with Doinel’s point. It’s better that they focus on unreleased films or those badly in need of remastering. The special features for this film could be fascinating and I’m tempted to say yes but when I think about it, I’d be unlikely to spend 30-40 dollars to upgrade just for features when I already have a good copy at home. I’d prefer they focus on, say, his Shakespeare films: Othello, Macbeth, Chimes at Midnight. The latter I’d really love to see and the former two, I probably would purchase again just for the Criterion upgrade… of course, if I hadn’t seen or bought the Trial before, I would buy a Criterion release so for those who haven’t seen it, yes, I think it would be a more than worthy release. How’s that for fence straddlin?
Yes. Yes. I would jump at the chance to see/purchase a Criterion release of The Trial. One of my favorite films which deserves a much larger audience, which as Raysquirrel pointed out is an obvious influence on much post-1980’s cinema.
I would buy a Criterion version of The Trial IN A HEARTBEAT. It’s in my overall top 5.
1. Yes.
2. YES!!!
3. The fact that Welles himself declared it to be his best film should be enough to grant it the Criterion treatment. Definitely one of the biggest unseen masterpieces.
Was anyone here a bit disappionted with The Trial? I read the book first and loved it. For the movie I thought the atmosphere was good, but Perkins really annoyed me. He seemed to get a lot more loose and flustered than K is in the book. And the change to the ending was just awful!
“It’s better that they focus on unreleased films or those badly in need of remastering.”
THE TRIAL is in desperate need of remastering.
There’s a great “The Trial” DVD which was released by StudioCanal in France. If you have capabilities to play region 2 DVD’s it’s about the price of a criterion.
It’s good, but it’s incomplete. It lacks the marvelous opening sequence that Welles created. There still has yet to be anything approaching a definitive release of THE TRIAL.
@Risselada
I adore the film—yet I haven’t read the novel in its entirety. I can imagine how easy it probably is to adapt Kafka in such a manner that the viewer could not help be inescapably annoyed by the disparities, but for me, The Trial always seemed to capture him to an extent. Kafka, mind you—though perhaps not The Trial precisely. Without being burdened by deeper knowledge of the book, I see the film as Kafka modulated with a fine serving of Welles’ own (undervalued) existential, black-comic sensibility—which does differ, but stops short of clashing with Kafka’s.
(I can’t, however, comprehend a hypothetical reality in which Tony Perkins’ performance is not perfect by all relevant means.)
As for the ending, Welles once remarked that he changed it because he could not imagine Kafka—a Jew, ending the narrative as such if he had written it after the Holocaust. Take from that what you will.
Aside from Perkins’ seeming exaggeration and the ending, what else bothered you?
-Yes
-Yes
- If only to supplement the film with some great extras. because, i do feel there is a pretty decent release already out there. Plus, i agree that CC should focus on unreleased stuff, especially other Welles’ output
I actually prefer Welles’s The Trial to Kafka’s. I’m still waiting for a watchable take on Metamorphosis.
I guess I should stop kidding myself and start grieving the fact that we’ll most certainly never see Lynch’s proposed adaptation of The Metamorphosis. It was to be set in the 1950s, and also, I recall reading he was considering fusing the narrative with that of Kafka’s ‘A Country Doctor’.
RaySquirrel
I would like to experiment in meme creation on this forum. I am going to post the name of a movie that I believe should be in the Criterion Collection. All other posters on this topic will answer a series of questions:
1. Have you seen this film?
2. If yes to one, do you believe that this film should be released by the Criterion Collection?
3. If yes or no to two, why do you do you believe this film is worthy of a Criterion release?
Most suggestion on this forum I have found to be undirected in their discussion of individual films and whether or not they should be released by the Criterion Collection. These questions not only gauge the popularity of suggested movies, but allows for intelligent critique and gives reasons for why these films might deserve a $30 Criterion disc. I hope that individuals on this forum will use these three questions to promote films that have probably gone unseen or films that deserve prestigious inclusion and packaging.
In these instances the forum topic should begin with the title of the film, director and year of release included in case of specification, followed by (3Q). My example:
Orson Welles ‘The Trial’
1. Have you seen this film?
Yes
2. If yes to one, do you believe that this film should be released by the Criterion Collection?
Yes
3. If yes or no to two, why do you do you believe this film is worthy of a Criterion release?
Out of all of Orson Welles films, Welles named this his best film. As an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s unfinished novel, the film operates on a nightmare logic that predates David Lynch and Cronenberg. The main character of Joseph K, played by Anthony Perkins, is told that he is under arrest for a crime of which he is never informed. Events don’t appear to make logical sense, the viewer, like K, is never informed of the cause for the consequences he experiences. The only constant appears to be that the entire world sees K as guilty and everything is set up against him.
For the last time in Welles career he was given control of a vast amount of resources. Welles fills his landscape with large scale sets, a combination of Baroque and modern, either found or created. The landscape itself seems to metamorphosize, contort into different shapes and sizes in order to offer Joseph K with the maximum amount of oppression.
The film has been released on DVD by many public domain companies, with varying degree of quality. The film has been released in France in a 2-disc package. Possible extras include:
Welles own documentary film ‘Filming ’The Trial’’.
A well known deleted scene, where the audio is lost. In the script Joseph K is told that the crime he will commit is suicide.
Interviews given by Welles at the time, where he discusses the reasons for deviating from the books ending.