The Trial

"The Most Remarkable Motion Picture Ever Made!"

1962 1h 59m EN

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 592

CrimeDramaMystery

Synopsis

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Arrested for an unnamed crime, Josef K. is trapped in a surreal bureaucratic maze where justice is unknowable and guilt is assumed.

“The Most Remarkable Motion Picture Ever Made!”

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Cast

Anthony Perkins
Josef K.
Romy Schneider
Leni
Orson Welles
Albert Hastler
Akim Tamiroff
Bloch
Jeanne Moreau
Marika Burstner
Elsa Martinelli
Hilda
Suzanne Flon
Miss Pittl
Madeleine Robinson
Mrs. Grubach

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Orson Welles
Writers: Orson Welles
Languages: English
Countries: France, Germany, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 7% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

64 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, Germany, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Orson Welles, shot by Edmond Richard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jean Ledrut. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Yvonne Martin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Anthony Perkins and Romy Schneider and Orson Welles carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Orson Welles directs. Edmond Richard behind the camera. Jean Ledrut scores. Yvonne Martin cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, Germany, Italy. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 7% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
364 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4International production across 3 countries: France, Germany, Italy.
5Directed by Orson Welles, shot by Edmond Richard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Jean Ledrut. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Yvonne Martin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Anthony Perkins and Romy Schneider and Orson Welles carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The Most Remarkable Motion Picture Ever Made!".
10IMDB entry: tt0057427 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 38 themes, including "bureaucracy", "based on novel or book", "court", "society".
12Released under 38 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Edmond Richard
Original score: Jean Ledrut
Editing: Yvonne Martin
Production design: Jean Mandaroux
Costume design: Helen Thibault
Makeup / hair: Louis Dor
Runtime: 119 min · 1h 59m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,300,000
Box office: $94,243
Return: 7% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Trial (1962)

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Orson Welles

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What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-11-06
★ 7/10
There is something really quite terrifying about the scenario in which "Josef K" (a career-best performance from Anthony Perkins, I think) finds himself in this rather sinister thriller. He is awakened one morning to find the police in his bedroom. He is arrested and told he is to stand trial. For what, you might think? Well, that's what he wonders too - and every effort he makes to establish just what he is supposed to have done fails to deliver. His detention is hardly traditional either. He is largely free to come and go as he pleases, provided always that he is available to attend his questioning sessions by those who seem rather arbitrarily charged with deciding his guilt or innocence. As his (and our) frustrations grow, he explores the lives of those close to him - might the source of his predicament lie there? Luckily, his uncle learns of his situation and engages the learned advocate "Hastler" (Orson Welles) - but is he likely to prove an help or an hindrance? This story is Kafka as his very best. Machiavellian scheming mixed with the ultimate in "Big Brother" state manipulation; the disabling lack of information and the increasing exasperation of young "Josef" are successfully transferred onto an audience that shares his fears and apprehensions. Gradually, we learn a great deal about this man, his flaws, foibles and fetishes, but still are uncertain as to just what he is supposed to have done! A considerable degree of the menace here emanates from the dark photography and from an effective supporting cast who excel in perpetuating the mystery, too. Welles directs this with considerable aplomb, Jean Ledrut provides an evocative and mysterious score to accompany a screenplay that delivers the sense of vexation and chagrin well and compellingly. Fans of horror films ought to watch this too - it's one of the scariest films I have ever seen.
CaseyReese2023-02-08
★ 10/10
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badelf2025-02-01
★ 10/10
The Trial: Welles's Brilliant Exposition of Guiltless Guilt Orson Welles's "The Trial" exists in a lineage of dystopian narratives that includes Kafka's original text of the same name, George Orwell's "1984", and Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" film - all works that explore bureaucratic dehumanization and the absurdity of institutional power. If the first layer of the film reveals bureaucratic absurdity and inaccessible justice, its deeper strata explore a more insidious human condition: the phenomenon of "guiltless guilt" - an existential state where individuals internalize blame for circumstances beyond their control. Josef K (Anthony Hopkins) isn't just a victim of an incomprehensible system; he's a subconscious participant in his own psychological prosecution. Welles suggests that guilt isn't an external judgment, but an internal landscape where humans reflexively blame themselves for random misfortunes. This psychological mechanism echoes broader historical traumas. Like Kafka's prescient writing before the rise of Nazism, Welles exposes how undefined, internalized guilt enables systemic oppression. The nameless accusation becomes a mirror: "Perhaps I deserve this," people whisper to themselves, thus facilitating their own marginalization. Religious narratives - from Eve's original sin to cultural mythologies of personal culpability - have long programmed this psychological response. We carry lucky charms, we apologize for being victims, we internalize blame as a perverse form of control. In both "The Trial" and "Brazil", the visual language becomes a physical manifestation of this psychological oppression. Welles's stark, expressionist landscapes and Gilliam's grotesque, mechanical environments aren't mere backdrops, but external representations of internal psychological states. The labyrinthine bureaucracies become metaphors for the human mind's capacity for self-persecution, where architectural complexity mirrors psychological entrapment. Welles and Gilliam share a crucial insight: systemic oppression isn't imposed from outside, but cultivated from within. Josef K and Sam Lowry aren't just victims; they're unwitting architects of their own psychological prisons. The surreal, nightmarish visual styles become a perfect translation of this internal landscape of "guiltless guilt" - where the most effective chains are the ones we forge for ourselves. "The Trial" is less a film about justice than a profound exploration of how humans psychologically prepare themselves for, and participate in, their own oppression.