Le procès (1962)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Orson Welles

Writers:

Franz Kafka (novel)
Orson Welles (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

30 March 1963 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

Plot:

An unassuming office worker is arrested and stands trial, but he is never made aware of his charges.

Plot Keywords:

Kafka Esque | Ambiguity | Oppression | False Accusation | Surrealism

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Anthony Perkins	...	Josef K.
Jeanne Moreau	...	Marika Burstner
Romy Schneider	...	Leni
Elsa Martinelli	...	Hilda
Suzanne Flon	...	Miss Pittl
Orson Welles	...	Albert Hastler (The Advocate)
Akim Tamiroff	...	Bloch
Madeleine Robinson	...	Mrs. Grubach
Arnoldo Foà	...	Inspector A
Fernand Ledoux	...	Chief Clerk of the Law Court
Michael Lonsdale	...	Priest
Max Buchsbaum	...	Examining Magistrate
Max Haufler	...	Uncle Max
Maurice Teynac	...	Deputy Manager
Wolfgang Reichmann	...	Courtroom Guard
Thomas Holtzmann	...	Bert the law student
Billy Kearns	...	First Assistant Inspector
Jess Hahn	...	Second Assistant Inspector
Naydra Shore	...	Irmie, Joseph K.'s cousin
Carl Studer	...	Man in Leather
Jean-Claude Rémoleux	...	Policeman
Raoul Delfosse	...	Policeman
William Chappell	...	Titorelli
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Guy Grosso	...	K's colleague (uncredited)
Paola Mori	...	Court archivist (uncredited)

Directed by
Orson Welles

Writing credits
Franz Kafka		(novel)
Orson Welles		(screenplay)
Pierre Cholot		(French dialogue adaptation) uncredited

Produced by
Michael Salkind	....	executive producer
Alexander Salkind	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Jean Ledrut

Cinematography by
Edmond Richard

Film Editing by
Yvonne Martin
Frederick Muller		(as Fritz H. Muller)
Orson Welles		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Jean Mandaroux

Costume Design by
Helen Thibault		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Louis Dor	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Robert Florat	....	production manager
Emile Blondé	....	unit manager (uncredited)
Philippe Dubail	....	unit manager (uncredited)
Jacques Pignier	....	unit production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marc Maurette	....	assistant director
Sophie Becker	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Paul Seban	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Jean Bourlier	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Jacques Brizzio	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Madame Brunet	....	dresser (uncredited)
Jean Charpentier	....	upholsterer (uncredited)
Francine Coureau	....	upholsterer (uncredited)
Jacques D'Ovidio	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
André Labussière	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Claudie Thary	....	dresser (uncredited)
Pierre Tyberghein	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jacques Lebreton	....	sound mixer
Guy Villette	....	sound
Julien Coutelier	....	sound (uncredited)
Urbain Loiseau	....	assistant sound (uncredited)
Guy Maillet	....	assistant sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Denise Baby	....	special effects editor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Adolphe Charlet	....	camera operator
Roger Corbeau	....	still photographer
Max Dulac	....	assistant camera
Robert Fraisse	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Gargano Andrea	....	final colorist (uncredited)
Gérard Pollicand	....	associate editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Jean Ledrut	....	music arranger

Other crew
Alexander Alexeieff	....	prologue scenes
Paul Laffargue	....	assistant to director of production
Yves Laplanche	....	promoter
Claire Parker	....	prologue scenes
Jacques Pignier	....	administrator
Pierre Bénichou	....	press attache (uncredited)
Jacques Brua	....	accountant (uncredited)
Sonia Bunodiere	....	production secretary (uncredited)
Henry Dutrannoy	....	production administrator (uncredited)
Marie-José Kling	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
Florence Malraux	....	press attache (uncredited)
Guy Maugin	....	location manager (uncredited)
André Nicard	....	publicist (uncredited)
Gisèle Pellet-Collet	....	production secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paris-Europa Productions
• Hisa-Film
• Fl. C. It

Distributors

• UFA-Cormacico (1962) (France) (theatrical)
• Astor Pictures Corporation (1963) (USA) (theatrical)
• Roan Group, The (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Roan Group, The (1997) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Hollywood Classics (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Milestone Film & Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Take 2 Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• VCI Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Fox Lorber (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Delta Expedition (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• FOCUSfilm Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• FOCUSfilm Entertainment (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Madman Entertainment (2002) (Australia) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• Passport International Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Astor
• Connoisseur Video (????) (UK) (VHS)
• DNC Home Entertainment (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV) (1984) (Finland) (TV)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Studiocanal Vidéo (????) (France) (DVD)
• Suomi-Filmi (1963) (Finland) (theatrical)
• TV3 (1989) (Finland) (TV)
• Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)
• YLE Teema (2006) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Chappell  music editing
• LAX Lab.  optical effects
• Philips  soundtrack
• Screen Time Images  audio restoration
• Screen Time Images  film restoration
• Studios de Boulogne  studios

Also Known As:

Der Prozess (West Germany)
Il processo (Italy)
The Trial (USA)

Runtime:

118 min | USA:107 min (TV version : 1984)

Country:

France | Italy | West Germany | Yugoslavia

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Optiphone) (source format)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-12 (re-rating: 1981) | Finland:K-16 (original rating: 1963) | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:16 (bw)

Filming Locations:

Gare d'Orsay, Paris 7, Paris, France

Company:

Paris-Europa Productions

Trivia:

The "pin-screen," also called the "pin-board," used in the opening and closing sequences was invented by Alexander Alexeieff in the early 1930's. It is a board with pins stuck in it at regular intervals. The pins can be raised or lowered to form an image, which can then be lit and photographed. By manipulating the pins and photographing them one frame at a time, the device can be used for animation, and though it was not so used in "The Trial" Alexeieff and Claire Parker made at least two short animated films using the pin-screen, _nuit sur le mont chauve, Une (1933)_ and Le nez (1963).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Before the law, there stands a guard. A man comes from the country, begging admittance to the law. But the guard cannot admit him. May he hope to enter at a later time? That is possible, said the guard. The man tries to peer through the entrance. He'd been taught that the law was to be accessible to every man...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Paul Calf's Video Diary (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Adagio in G

THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE EVER MADE

Anthony Perkins realizes the paranoia of Joseph K, charged with an unnamed crime by uncooperative detectives and pursued by victims, executioners, and young girls through a nightmarish European city which is darker than the blackest things in horror of film noir. The terrifying,thought provoking, dreamily real picture could only have been brought to us by Orson Welles. He comes to us not only as a director, but again as an actor. Welles plays a bedridden lawyer in a cavernous house and enters in the cloud of smoke from a cigar. Romy Shneider shines as his nursemaid who seduces the lawyers clients like K and Block(Akim Tamiroff). Welles updated Kafka's THE TRIAL to the age after the holocaust and the atomic bomb. This is aided by the locations Welles was forced to shoot in after funding was cut. Edmund Richard masterfully moves his camera through the ruined interiors of a decaying industrial Europe. K's dillema is hightened by the cavernous abandoned railroad station. The picture is genius from the pinscreen opening to the spellbinding climax. Fans of THE THIRD MAN should appreciate the final scenes. Welles's best and therefore the best there is.