Joseph K (Anthony Perkins) living in some form of dull regimented dystopian future awakes to find himself sucked into a vast and self serving legal system when he is arrested for a crime that is never explained to him. He looks to understand the system and the people within it who might be able to help him.
Certainly this is not for everyone and the interpretations of Kafka's book are many and varied. Best then to let it wash all over you and marvel at one of Welles' best films. The sets using the abandoned Gare D'Orsay are extraordinarily beautiful in their way - all broken and dirty with mile upon mile of legal records and people awaiting decisions. These nicely support the clever set pieces - eg a seduction upon a hill of paper, a small wooden cubicle where the court artist escapes from the court children?? - bizarre yet always compelling. Perkins is superbly cast, all jittery, angry and paranoid with fine support from Schneider, Tamiroff and Wells himself. Weird and deeply wonderful.
Certainly this is not for everyone and the interpretations of Kafka's book are many and varied. Best then to let it wash all over you and marvel at one of Welles' best films. The sets using the abandoned Gare D'Orsay are extraordinarily beautiful in their way - all broken and dirty with mile upon mile of legal records and people awaiting decisions. These nicely support the clever set pieces - eg a seduction upon a hill of paper, a small wooden cubicle where the court artist escapes from the court children?? - bizarre yet always compelling. Perkins is superbly cast, all jittery, angry and paranoid with fine support from Schneider, Tamiroff and Wells himself. Weird and deeply wonderful.