The Trial

Based on the novel by Franz Kafka, The Trial is a paranoid masterpiece directed by Orson Welles (Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil). Josef K (Anthony Perkins, Psycho) is arrested, but has no idea what crime he is accused of. In order to find out what offence he is meant to have committed, and to protest his innocence, Josef K must go through the machinations of the judicial system, but he soon finds himself trapped in a dehumanised nightmare. Rich with Welles’ trademark style, The Trial is a visual feast. The icy black and white photography strikingly depicts the spider-and-fly games of an ineffectual man struggling against his inescapable fate. Using the cracked labyrinthine corridors of Paris’ ruined Gare D’Orsay as his set, Welles perfectly captures Kafka’s terrifyingly skewed world. A master class in building tension, The Trial aptly illustrates why Welles is often cited as the greatest director of all time.