France, West Germany, Italy, 1963, 113'
directed by: Orson Welles
written by: Orson Welles, Pierre Cholot
cast: Anthony Perkins, Jeanne Moreau, Orson Welles, Elsa Martinelli, Romy Schneider
cinematography: Edmond Richard
edited by: Yvonne Martin
producers: Alexander Salkind
production: Paris Europa Productions, Hisa-Film, FI.C.IT
Oscar Nominee for Best Original Screenplay 1947; Venice International Film Festival 1947
Shot on location in France, Italy and Zagreb, Welles's adaptation of Kafka's The Trial is an atmospheric film, acclaimed for exceptional cinematography and suggestive set designs. Having skillfully depicted an individual's feeling of paranoia, guilt and anxiety in the nightmare of a dreadful bureaucratic absurdity, Welles himself called it his best and most personal film. One morning, two officers come for timid Josef K without any explanation. The attorney appointed for him is Albert Hastler, a rough and cynical man who does not inspire Josef K's confidence. Not knowing the reason for his arrest, Josef starts questioning his innocence, wondering if he has done something wrong after all. Josef is played by Anthony Perkins, best known by his role in Hitchcock's Psycho. Orson Welles plays his attorney. Romy Schneider and Jeanne Moreau also appear in the film.
Orson Welles (1915 – 1985) is one of the most important persons of the 20th century. This superior intellectual, director, actor and writer, magician and radio host, playwright, painter and poet left his trace in Croatia, too. This is a unique opportunity to see some well-known, some less known and some unknown films and footages that this creative genius made in his lifetime, some of them in our country. The hundredth anniversary of his birth and thirtieth anniversary of his death are an opportunity to see what it is like when a top artist makes top art – often against all odds.
