The Trial (1993)

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Movie
German title The process
Original title The Trial
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 1993
length 120 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director David Hugh Jones
script Harold Pinter
production Louis Marks
music Carl Davis
camera Phil Meheux
cut John Stothart
occupation

The process is a British film drama from the year 1993 . The literary film adaptation is based on the fragment of the novel by Franz Kafka of the same name .

action

When the bank employee Josef K. woke up one morning, he was shocked to discover that he had been charged. Nobody wants to tell him the reason for the charge or the details. Rather, he is assured that everything will now take its course and that until then he will be allowed to continue his life under the supervision of Babensteiner, Kullich and Kaminer. At work, Josef K. learns that a first hearing has been scheduled for the next Sunday at Juliusstrasse 48, although he himself opens a day earlier to visit the location. With the excuse of looking for a plumber, he accidentally falls into a large room where his case is already being negotiated. He himself takes the floor and complains about having been arrested by degenerative, arrogant, ignorant and corrupt men. He also attacks the dignity of the law, which apparently nobody really cares about. When he appears the next day, the room is empty and the supposed law books turn out to be obscene erotica . He then goes straight to the court with the bailiff, mistaking him for a defendant on the way. This makes Josef so angry that he is eventually kicked out.

After the men who brought him the charges were punished for their bad behavior towards Josef, Josef receives a visit from his uncle Albert. He is upset that his nephew has been charged, so he goes to see lawyer Dr. Grace visited. Although the latter wants to accept his case immediately, Josef is less interested in his defense than in his beautiful chambermaid Leni. She advises him to make a full confession in order to be released, and she seduces him and sleeps with him. Later, Dr. Grace that he could find enough witnesses to testify for Joseph's case. But Joseph does not want a foreign defense in court. He wants to face himself. To do this, he uses an offer from Leni, which he conveyed to the court painter Tittorelli. Over the years he has gained so much experience to know how to manipulate a case in such a way that it is never negotiated, if not even forgotten. He could thus possibly escape his threatening fate. But Josef doesn't want to behave like that. Rather, he wants the case to be ended as soon as possible. But also Dr. Huld later explains to him, using his client Bloch as an example, that negotiations can be delayed for years. Josef is much too arrogant, has been treated too well and should definitely experience worse so that he finally understands how serious his situation is.

A little later, Josef receives a call from Mr. Deimen, an employee of his bank. He should take the chairman of the Italian company Satari on a cultural and museum tour of the city. He should meet Mr. Rossi at 10 a.m. at the cathedral. But when he does not find him, he goes to the cathedral on his own initiative and meets a prison chaplain with the priest. He tries to explain his situation to him with the parable of the parable Before the Law . But Josef doesn't understand and returns home. He is picked up there by two men. They take him to the quarry, where he is undressed and stabbed.

background

The film celebrated its world premiere when it was released in German cinemas on May 13, 1993. After it was shown in theaters in Great Britain from June 18, 1993, its US theatrical release was in April 1994, where it grossed just under 120,000 US dollars . In the German language, the film has not yet been released as VHS , DVD or Blu-ray Disc .

criticism

The renowned film critic Roger Ebert the film in comparing Chicago Sun-Times with the process of Orson Welles , where he found that he could not stand the comparison. He lamented a "lack of anger and fear". Perkins is also "much better" in the role of the "terrible, nervous" Josef K. than MacLachlan, who shows his character as an "upright, reserved, logical man".

The renowned film critic James Berardinelli gave this "visually impressive film" two out of four stars . The supporting actors are also “remarkable”. MacLachlan alone, who embodies his character with “icy distance”, makes it “difficult, if not impossible”, to identify with the main character. “Basically” the film remains unsatisfactory, however, because it “lacks the energy” and it seems like a “pedantic, dull, two-hour nightmare”.

Janet Maslin wrote in the New York Times that this "appropriately cold-blooded" film presented a "calm, rich" picture of history. However, the film concentrates too much on the plot, so that although it can be read as a “political, religious or psychological allegory”, it also degenerates into a “series of abrupt, incoherent episodes”.

The Lexicon of International Films writes: “A new attempt to adapt one of the greatest classics of modern literature, Kafka's" The Trial ", for the screen, fails mainly because of the slavish proximity of the script to the novel and an uninspired direction that between the lines cannot find any visual visions of their own. Also not consistently convincing in the portrayal of the main role. The film only develops quality in its dignified style, which is more committed to a restrictive television dramaturgy than the big cinema screen and never completely frees itself from its educated bourgeois touch. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Trial (1993) at boxofficemojo.com , accessed May 15, 2013
  2. ↑ Roger Ebert: The Trial on rogerebert.com from April 4, 1994 (English), accessed on May 15, 2013
  3. ↑ James Berardinelli: The Trial on reelviews.net from 1994 (English), accessed on May 15, 2013
  4. ↑ Janet Maslin: Review / Film; Kafka's Sinister World by Way of Pinter on nytimes.com November 24, 1993, accessed May 15, 2013
  5. ↑ The trial. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used