Orson Welles is one of my heroes, but I don't think "The Trial" was one of his better films. It's interesting stylistically (especially in its use of settings--an abandoned railroad station in Paris and a suitably Orwellian apartment building in what was then Yugoslavia) but I don't think Orson's heart was in it; he just didn't get Kafka. This was one of the few directing efforts that Welles was actually paid for (by the same producers who went on to make "The Three Musketeers" and "Superman") and he only agreed to do it if he could get Anthony Perkins (fresh from his success in "Psycho") as Josef K. Fortunately for Orson Tony was a fan of his and jumped at the chance. The rest is history. Welles was bothered by Josef K's passivity in the original novel and sought to make him more defiant, but the result in Anthony Perkins' hands came off as petulant. The movie followed Kafka's novel until the end, when instead of being spread-eagled and knifed by his executioners he is given the knife but refuses to stab himself, whereupon the executioners throw a stick of dynamite in the ditch with him, which he attempts to throw back but it explodes. The original ending was better and by dispensing with it Welles lost sight of the story's religious symbolism; in the novel Josef K's death has unmistakable parallels with the Crucifixion but also with the sacrifice of Isaac in the Old Testament. Josef K, the scapegoat, dies to atone for whose sins--his or ours? On the plus side Welles gives a majestic performance as Hasterer, the defense attorney, and Romy Schneider is sexy as Leni, the attorney's horny nurse who sleeps with all his clients. This is a film that all Kafka students and Welles enthusiasts should see at least once.
