October 24th: THE TRIAL (Orson Welles, 1962)
NOTE: This film will be screened in the high-definition Blu-ray format.
An office worker is arrested for unstated reasons and is caught in a web of bureaucracy and deceit.
Orson Welles made an enormous splash in Hollywood with his 1941 debut feature Citizen Kane, but the controversy around its production and release resulted in a subsequent loss of creative control on his following projects. Before the end of the decade, he had left for Europe and took acting jobs in international productions to fund his own films, which included an adaption of Shakespeare's Othello, his own original story Mr. Arkadin, and multiple television productions for the BBC. A brief return to America resulted in Touch of Evil, one of his most celebrated films but also famously recut by the studio against his wishes.
Back in Europe, Welles continued acting, and crossed paths with Russian producer Alexander Salkind, who offered to fund his next picture. Welles was given a long list of properties, from which he chose Franz Kafka's novel The Trial, which the director admired. He wrote the adaptation, remaining faithful to the plot and spirit of the novel while modernizing certain elements and rearranging the order of many scenes. Welles also had a distinct take on the main character Josef K, whom he believed was both a victim of the bureaucracy satirized by the story as well as someone ambitious who wished to rise within its structure.
The film was meant to be shot entirely in Yugoslavia, with extensive sets designed by Welles, but disagreements between Salkind and local representatives led them to quickly relocate to Paris, where they were forced to find available locations to shoot in. Most famously, a large portion of the film was shot at the Gare d'Orsay, a train station which had fallen out of use after the war and was largely abandoned. Welles made great use of the striking architecture and all the various nooks and crannies of the site.
Moving to Boulogne Studios for the more mundane interiors, Welles repeated his old practice of having sets built with ceilings, still uncommon for most productions and allowing him to get the low-angle shots he preferred. Working with French cinematographer Edmond Richard (who had not worked on a feature before but was one of the builders of the Caméflex camera), they favored a specific diffused lighting approach. Additional filming was done back in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (most notably the vast office scene with hundreds of desks); Dubrovnik, Croatia; and in Rome.
The cast is headed by American actor Anthony Perkins (fresh off Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho), French actress Jeanne Moreau, German actress Romy Schneider, frequent Welles collaborator Akim Tamiroff, Italian actress Elsa Martinelli, and Welles himself, who appears on-screen and is rumored to have dubbed over ten other actors' voices himself in post-production.
Welles did much of the editing himself. The memorable opening sequence was done by Alexandre Alexieff, with the pinscreen process. The film did not appear at any film festivals, premiering in Paris in late 1962. It received Best Film honors from the French Syndicate of Film Critics, and was well-received around the world by critics in general. At the time Welles called it his best film, and it is regarded as one of his most innovative. Languishing in poor public domain copies for decades, it was recently restored in high-definition.
Running time is approx. 2 hours.
An office worker is arrested for unstated reasons and is caught in a web of bureaucracy and deceit.
Orson Welles made an enormous splash in Hollywood with his 1941 debut feature Citizen Kane, but the controversy around its production and release resulted in a subsequent loss of creative control on his following projects. Before the end of the decade, he had left for Europe and took acting jobs in international productions to fund his own films, which included an adaption of Shakespeare's Othello, his own original story Mr. Arkadin, and multiple television productions for the BBC. A brief return to America resulted in Touch of Evil, one of his most celebrated films but also famously recut by the studio against his wishes.
Back in Europe, Welles continued acting, and crossed paths with Russian producer Alexander Salkind, who offered to fund his next picture. Welles was given a long list of properties, from which he chose Franz Kafka's novel The Trial, which the director admired. He wrote the adaptation, remaining faithful to the plot and spirit of the novel while modernizing certain elements and rearranging the order of many scenes. Welles also had a distinct take on the main character Josef K, whom he believed was both a victim of the bureaucracy satirized by the story as well as someone ambitious who wished to rise within its structure.
The film was meant to be shot entirely in Yugoslavia, with extensive sets designed by Welles, but disagreements between Salkind and local representatives led them to quickly relocate to Paris, where they were forced to find available locations to shoot in. Most famously, a large portion of the film was shot at the Gare d'Orsay, a train station which had fallen out of use after the war and was largely abandoned. Welles made great use of the striking architecture and all the various nooks and crannies of the site.
Moving to Boulogne Studios for the more mundane interiors, Welles repeated his old practice of having sets built with ceilings, still uncommon for most productions and allowing him to get the low-angle shots he preferred. Working with French cinematographer Edmond Richard (who had not worked on a feature before but was one of the builders of the Caméflex camera), they favored a specific diffused lighting approach. Additional filming was done back in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (most notably the vast office scene with hundreds of desks); Dubrovnik, Croatia; and in Rome.
The cast is headed by American actor Anthony Perkins (fresh off Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho), French actress Jeanne Moreau, German actress Romy Schneider, frequent Welles collaborator Akim Tamiroff, Italian actress Elsa Martinelli, and Welles himself, who appears on-screen and is rumored to have dubbed over ten other actors' voices himself in post-production.
Welles did much of the editing himself. The memorable opening sequence was done by Alexandre Alexieff, with the pinscreen process. The film did not appear at any film festivals, premiering in Paris in late 1962. It received Best Film honors from the French Syndicate of Film Critics, and was well-received around the world by critics in general. At the time Welles called it his best film, and it is regarded as one of his most innovative. Languishing in poor public domain copies for decades, it was recently restored in high-definition.
Running time is approx. 2 hours.
Comments
Post a Comment