In my review of “Kafka,” I mentioned how the movement of postmodernism came out of the historical condition referred to as the modern era (ironically, it’s an era now antique as it ran from about 1890 to 1950). The modern era had an optimistic tenor, claiming the solutions to society’s problems could be found in science, psychology, and, perhaps less sexily, bureaucracy and administration. The idea was that with the correct processes, anything could be achieved. Think about how the Ford assembly line revolutionized production.

Part of what these processes promised to do was make everything consistent and predictable by eliminating the irrationality of humans.

It sounds hopeful, really. But of course, that’s not always how it works; bureaucracy can just as easily be used to stifle and oppress.

That’s the idea behind Franz Kafka‘s novel “The Trial,“ and also the 1962 black and white Orson Welles film of the same name, derived from that material. In the movie, an average citizen named Mr. K, played by Anthony Perkins, is accused by the state of a crime. What crime? The charge is never laid out. And Mr. K spends the entirety of the story trying to get to the bottom of it. 

It’s a bizarre, surreal work, unlike anything that might get made today. Mr. K moves from scene to scene, always on the run from long shadows and baffling situations.

Perkins does a great job in the role. His movements in particular stand out, those of a man trying to repress his energy, like he’s constantly trying to keep himself from breaking out into a jog.

Director Welles also has a meaningful role as the advocate, an inscrutable figure who claims to be on Mr. K’s side, but seems out only to serve himself.

Is this a horror film? I’d say the concept of the whole of society being turned against one individual is one of the most horrifying of all.

Best line: “What’s the charge?”