At the beginning, I made the mistake of trying to understand the movie like a regular movie. I couldn't make sense of it. It felt like an illogical nightmare. It wasn't till halfway through that I let go of logic and was better able to comprehend the movie's message. ..... The victim of society. "Yes, that's the conspiracy. To persuade us all that the whole world is crazy. Formless, meaningless, absurd. That's the dirty game." ..... Remember the scene where two police officers got flogged in the broom closet? They were punished because Josef complained about them. One of them said, "It's custom to get the prisoner's linen... nothing would have happened if you hadn't denounced!" It shows that they have been doing this for some time, and the organisation turns a blind eye towards this act. Their punishment was deserved, but this only addresses the symptom without addressing the root cause. Josef hits the nail on the head when he said, "It's the people above them, the authorities, the whole organisation." Exactly. A corrupt organisation breeds corrupt officers. It reminds me of the movie Serpico (1973). Punishing the officers feels satisfying, but the problem will still remain in the future. Unfortunately, there's nothing much Josef can do in his situation. ..... Another point I've discovered is how some clients confidently think they can defend themselves without a lawyer. Josef K thinks he's capable of handling his own case. "I'm not stupid. I can defend myself. Look at the position I've got at the office." He doesn't realize that law is a whole lot more complicated than it looks. One of the reasons he lost his case is because he decided to dismiss Hastler and continue without a lawyer.
I haven't seen this for many years. Either I've forgotten or never noticed how many of the characters were voiced by Welles. I really appreciate your selection of movies.
This is how someone once explained to me the writings of Kafka: it's about an individual lost in endless bureaucracy that is completely incomprehensible. The protagonist usually has a very simple goal. Here, at the very least Mr. K can't even get an answer to what he is being charged with. In Kafka's "The Castle" a young land surveyor also named K in the book, comes to a remote village and is unable to do his job because no one is aware that he's supposed to come and again the protagonist has to go through bureaucratic channels to at the end make no progress. A great film adaptation of "The Castle" is by the Russian filmmaker Aleksei Balabanov made in 1994. The novels "The Trial" and "The Castle" were never finished, as were other writings by Kafka. This was a great adaptation of "The Trial" capturing the Kafka-esque essence. I didn't even know this film existed.
Enjoyed your analysis. Yes, very surrealistic which certainly reflects Kafka's novel from which this was adapted (which itself reminded me of Dickens' unending legal maze in _Bleak_ _House_ or his "Circumlocution Office" in _Little_ _Dorrit_ - the legal profession has a long history of a tendency to make justice slow and painful).
"What's your problem?" "I'm under arrest." "Yeah?" "Unbelievable, isn't it?" "Well, it happens." Fun Fact: Theatrical movie debut of Naydra Shore. Panic Attack Fact: hile filming, Jeanne Moreau suffered a slight nervous breakdown due to the stifling atmosphere of the film. Voice Play Fact: It has been reported that Orson Welles dubbed 11 voices in the movie. Orson Welles reportedly dubbed a few lines of Anthony Perkins dialog. Perkins later said he could never figure out which lines they were. Music Enthusiast Fact: Some of the music is an adaptation of the Abinoni Adagio in G for organ and strings. The movie was made shortly before the early music revival/revolution that accompanied the 60s and made the Adagio, together with Pachelbel's Canon, one of the most ubiquitous pieces in the late 60s and 70s. Lost In Adaptation Fact: In the novel, K (Anthony Perkins) is killed with the knife, putting up little fight. Orson Welles, recognizing that the Holocaust was still a recent memory and the frequent interpretation that K is a Jew, decided it was inappropriate; so he changed it for the film. The actions of Miss Bürstner (Jeanne Moreau) differ from the novel. In this film, Josef K. meets one of her friends who is moving her out. In the novel, one of the other lodgers, Miss Montag, moves in with Miss Bürstner, which Josef interprets as an attempt by the landlady to thwart his romantic interest in Miss Bürstner.
At the beginning, I made the mistake of trying to understand the movie like a regular movie. I couldn't make sense of it. It felt like an illogical nightmare. It wasn't till halfway through that I let go of logic and was better able to comprehend the movie's message.
.....
The victim of society. "Yes, that's the conspiracy. To persuade us all that the whole world is crazy. Formless, meaningless, absurd. That's the dirty game."
.....
Remember the scene where two police officers got flogged in the broom closet? They were punished because Josef complained about them. One of them said, "It's custom to get the prisoner's linen... nothing would have happened if you hadn't denounced!" It shows that they have been doing this for some time, and the organisation turns a blind eye towards this act. Their punishment was deserved, but this only addresses the symptom without addressing the root cause.
Josef hits the nail on the head when he said, "It's the people above them, the authorities, the whole organisation." Exactly. A corrupt organisation breeds corrupt officers. It reminds me of the movie Serpico (1973). Punishing the officers feels satisfying, but the problem will still remain in the future. Unfortunately, there's nothing much Josef can do in his situation.
.....
Another point I've discovered is how some clients confidently think they can defend themselves without a lawyer. Josef K thinks he's capable of handling his own case. "I'm not stupid. I can defend myself. Look at the position I've got at the office." He doesn't realize that law is a whole lot more complicated than it looks. One of the reasons he lost his case is because he decided to dismiss Hastler and continue without a lawyer.
I haven't seen this for many years. Either I've forgotten or never noticed how many of the characters were voiced by Welles. I really appreciate your selection of movies.
This is how someone once explained to me the writings of Kafka: it's about an individual lost in endless bureaucracy that is completely incomprehensible. The protagonist usually has a very simple goal. Here, at the very least Mr. K can't even get an answer to what he is being charged with. In Kafka's "The Castle" a young land surveyor also named K in the book, comes to a remote village and is unable to do his job because no one is aware that he's supposed to come and again the protagonist has to go through bureaucratic channels to at the end make no progress. A great film adaptation of "The Castle" is by the Russian filmmaker Aleksei Balabanov made in 1994. The novels "The Trial" and "The Castle" were never finished, as were other writings by Kafka. This was a great adaptation of "The Trial" capturing the Kafka-esque essence. I didn't even know this film existed.
The reality in many countries...
Just started watching but I'm so sorry for your loss, Henry
Enjoyed your analysis. Yes, very surrealistic which certainly reflects Kafka's novel from which this was adapted (which itself reminded me of Dickens' unending legal maze in _Bleak_ _House_ or his "Circumlocution Office" in _Little_ _Dorrit_ - the legal profession has a long history of a tendency to make justice slow and painful).
"What's your problem?"
"I'm under arrest."
"Yeah?"
"Unbelievable, isn't it?"
"Well, it happens."
Fun Fact: Theatrical movie debut of Naydra Shore.
Panic Attack Fact: hile filming, Jeanne Moreau suffered a slight nervous breakdown due to the stifling atmosphere of the film.
Voice Play Fact: It has been reported that Orson Welles dubbed 11 voices in the movie. Orson Welles reportedly dubbed a few lines of Anthony Perkins dialog. Perkins later said he could never figure out which lines they were.
Music Enthusiast Fact: Some of the music is an adaptation of the Abinoni Adagio in G for organ and strings. The movie was made shortly before the early music revival/revolution that accompanied the 60s and made the Adagio, together with Pachelbel's Canon, one of the most ubiquitous pieces in the late 60s and 70s.
Lost In Adaptation Fact: In the novel, K (Anthony Perkins) is killed with the knife, putting up little fight. Orson Welles, recognizing that the Holocaust was still a recent memory and the frequent interpretation that K is a Jew, decided it was inappropriate; so he changed it for the film. The actions of Miss Bürstner (Jeanne Moreau) differ from the novel. In this film, Josef K. meets one of her friends who is moving her out. In the novel, one of the other lodgers, Miss Montag, moves in with Miss Bürstner, which Josef interprets as an attempt by the landlady to thwart his romantic interest in Miss Bürstner.
I just wrote this long note about your excellent reaction, hit send and it disapoeared. Grrrrrrr!
It happened to me too. The comment button worked for me after I reloaded the page.