Film Series Kafka in the Cinema: „The Trial“ by Orson Welles

Director: Orson Welles

France/Germany/Italy 1962, 118 Min.

With Anthony Perkins, Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider and others

Josef K. is woken up one morning by a man in his room. He is declared under arrest, but is still allowed to move around freely and pursue his profession. He is not told what he is accused of, nor when or even if a trial will be held against him. In his attempt to gain more control over the matter himself, he becomes increasingly entangled in the maelstrom of the judicial system.

The very unique adaptation of the unfinished novel about a bank procurator who is arrested for no fault of his own, which was written in 1914/15, was judged as follows after its publication: „Kafka has gained nothing from this transformation, and his readers are rightly disappointed. But the cinema has been enriched by a great film. So who wants to complain?“ (Jens Golombek in Das große Film-Lexikon. Alle Top-Filme von A–Z)

Introduction before the film by Kafka and film expert Vera Schneider, German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe

The film series is organised by the German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe, the Bundesplatz-Kino Berlin and the Czech Centre Berlin.