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Film: The Trial (1962)

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Like most Welles-directed movies, The Trial is about a search for information, the solving of a mystery. In this case, Josef K. is on trial without knowing why. In the existential quest that follows, he tries to investigate the system in which he is a prisoner. It is based on the novel by Franz Kafka, author of the stories “The Metamorphosis” and “A Hunger Artist.” Josef K. is played by Anthony Perkins; Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, and Elsa Martinelli also starring. Welles standby Akim Tamiroff plays a small role. Anthony Perkins is of course best known for the role of Norman Bates in Psycho, which came out two years before The Trial. Jeanne Moreau was a famed stage actress who had starred in Louis Malle’s 1958 “Elevator to the Gallows.” Romy Schneider was a fetching Austrian actress who made her film debut at 15 and who made a name for herself in the trilogy Sissi. Elsa Martinelli had played leading or supporting roles in several European films, and after The Trial, woul