review: The Trial

Franz Kafka’s work of genius gets the Orson Welles treatment in this conversational quandary which blends mystery, sexuality, legal drama, nightmarish negative utopian imagery and comedic satire among other things to translate the unique and mystifying novel to screen with respectable exactness. Kafka was an author who left us with works which demand that you enter into his realm of reality from the very first line. He was a fearless writer, as Welles was a fearless filmmaker, and together they effectively tell the story of Josef K, a man who is put under arrest for a crime he has no recollection of committing .Furthermore, he is not even made aware of what the crime is for which he is being arrested nor what the punishment may be. In a way which can be described only as uniquely Kafkaesque, the plot works much like a Chinese finger trap: the more we and our hero try and tug and pull to understand, the tighter things become and the more of a muddled labyrinth we encounter. What is innocence and guilt on an existential or even a simply conscientious level? Haven’t we all had at least thoughts which could put us on some spiritual or philosophical trial? For those who subscribe to a certain religious faith, these problems need not be explored as it is all laid out for them. They have their judge and jury set. For the rest of us however, Kafka and Welles exemplify with horrifying vividness the difficulty in defending ones honesty, good intentions and righteousness when the rules are learned as we go along and our belief systems are under ongoing construction rather than being preached to us from an organized set system. This is a deeply intellectual force in literature and film. Kafka’s story is imperative, Welles’ direction is masterful and Perkins’ consideration of Josef K. is inspired. This is, all in all, quite the clinic in free thinking and the darkness which often accompanies such a self-motivated pursuit of truth.