The Trial (50th Anniversary Edition) - September 3,2012 pre-order

[Akijama]

The Trial Blu-ray

Courtesy of Studio Canal.

Special Features:

Tempo interview with Orson Welles
interview with actor/playwright Steven Berkoff about Franz Kafka and adapting his work
Deleted scene
"Welles, Kafka & The Trial" documentary
"Orson Welles, Architect of Light" documentary
Trailer
Booklet by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum about the production and history of The Trial

The Trial is a 1962 film directed by Orson Welles, who also wrote the screenplay based on the novel of the same name by Franz Kafka. Welles stated in a 1962 interview with the BBC that "The Trial is the best film I have ever made."The film begins with Welles narrating Kafka's parable "Before the Law" to pinscreen scenes created by the artist Alexandre Alexeieff. Anthony Perkins stars as Josef K., a bureaucrat who is accused of a never-specified crime, and Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, and Elsa Martinelli play women who become involved in various ways in Josef's trial and life. Welles plays the Advocate, Josef's lawyer and the film's principal antagonist. The Trial was filmed in Europe and has been praised for its creative set designs and cinematography, especially Welles's uses of unique angles and focus.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Nice! Definitely going to get it.

I remember paying a small fortune for it on a gold-colored laserdisc back in the day. :-)

[Melodious Thunk]

I remember really enjoying this when I rented the DVD, despite the atrocious picture/audio quality. Let's hope they do a decent job on the BD. Anyway, it'll be great to have some more Orson Welles in HD.

[Akijama]

French and German cover art :

[MikeyHitchFan]

Is Amazon U.K. the best place to order this to ship to the U.S.? Seems like the best prices overall and no VAT.

[blakeyamc]

I am so disappointed this is region locked. This is one of my favorite films and was holding out buying the over-priced milestone DVD, to see if it comes out on Blu. It's so hard to find a quality transfer of this film, that the complaints on the transfer make me laugh, as it looks fantastic compared to what I have seen previously.
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Tr.../44831/#Review

[DVD Phreak]

Originally Posted by blakeyamc

It's so hard to find a quality transfer of this film, that the complaints on the transfer make me laugh, as it looks fantastic compared to what I have seen previously.
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Tr.../44831/#Review

You mean the screen captures look fantastic. You have to see it in motion to see how it really looks, especially when the reviewer mentioned there was "grain fluctuation" and "minor filtering corrections", which you don't really see on the captures. The last Studio Canal DVD edition (French PAL) came out in *2003*, and that worries me too, if the reviewer was right in surmising that a dated source was used for the Blu-ray. But DVDBeaver's comparison does show that the 2003 DVD still looks noticeably better than the next best DVD edition, the Warner UK PAL DVD from 2004.

This Blu-ray is also the first home video edition of the film to have English subtitles, accompanying the occasional poorly recorded dialogs with the excellent Kafka text.

[Melodious Thunk]

I had to sit a bit further back from my TV than usual to watch The Trial, otherwise the inferior picture quality became distracting. Yes, it's much better than any DVD edition, but it still could have been better. Great to see the film again though, it's very unusual and enjoyable.

Studio Canal is quite unpredictable. Sometimes they do a great job (Grand Illusion, Delicatessen) and sometimes there's plenty of room for improvement (compare the Criterion and Studio Canal editions of The Third Man).

[blakeyamc]

Originally Posted by DVD Phreak

DVDBeaver's comparison does show that the 2003 DVD still looks noticeably better than the next best DVD edition, the Warner UK PAL DVD from 2004..

Yeah, that's why i said it looks good, compared to what is available here in the states on DVD. That Milestone DVD is the best one available here, and it's going for $30.00+, and it doesn't even look that good. I would love a complete and thorough restoration of this film released on Blu. But, for now, I just want a copy that looks good on a screen that's bigger than 19 inches.

[whitesheik]

Originally Posted by DVD Phreak

You mean the screen captures look fantastic. You have to see it in motion to see how it really looks, especially when the reviewer mentioned there was "grain fluctuation" and "minor filtering corrections", which you don't really see on the captures. The last Studio Canal DVD edition (French PAL) came out in *2003*, and that worries me too, if the reviewer was right in surmising that a dated source was used for the Blu-ray. But DVDBeaver's comparison does show that the 2003 DVD still looks noticeably better than the next best DVD edition, the Warner UK PAL DVD from 2004.

This Blu-ray is also the first home video edition of the film to have English subtitles, accompanying the occasional poorly recorded dialogs with the excellent Kafka text.

Sorry, this is a fantastic Blu-ray and anyone with any knowledge of this film and its history would know just what a miracle it is. Do NOT let this review dissuade you if you love this film - it has NEVER looked this good and I saw it about twenty times when it came out and have owned both 16mm and 35mm prints. The detail is astonishing, there's no DNR or EE to be found (unless you're determined to find something and are watching on a huge screen sitting two feet away - you'd find the same thing wrong in the 35mm prints, too) - it's a splendid job from Studio Canal, and one look at ANY of the previous DVD releases, no matter from whom, will tell you all you need to know. Stellar all the way - my jaw hit the floor when watching the first scene. So, now you have a second opinion and from someone who kind of knows this film really well.

[DVD Phreak]

Originally Posted by whitesheik

Sorry, this is a fantastic Blu-ray and anyone with any knowledge of this film and its history would know just what a miracle it is. Do NOT let this review dissuade you if you love this film - it has NEVER looked this good and I saw it about twenty times when it came out and have owned both 16mm and 35mm prints. The detail is astonishing, there's no DNR or EE to be found (unless you're determined to find something and are watching on a huge screen sitting two feet away - you'd find the same thing wrong in the 35mm prints, too) - it's a splendid job from Studio Canal, and one look at ANY of the previous DVD releases, no matter from whom, will tell you all you need to know. Stellar all the way - my jaw hit the floor when watching the first scene. So, now you have a second opinion and from someone who kind of knows this film really well.

But the reviewer basically said the same thing: considering past DVD editions, this blu-ray is an obvious improvement. This review won't "dissuade" anybody from buying because of that. The reviewer has to do his job and report the defects he saw. He has to trust the intelligence of the readers enough to know that they would put all aspects into consideration.

[whitesheik]

Originally Posted by DVD Phreak

But the reviewer basically said the same thing: considering past DVD editions, this blu-ray is an obvious improvement. This review won't "dissuade" anybody from buying because of that. The reviewer has to do his job and report the defects he saw. He has to trust the intelligence of the readers enough to know that they would put all aspects into consideration.

He didn't really say the same thing - he had many criticisms, none of which were apparent to me on the Blu-ray - and this is a film I know intimately. It's not a question of considering past DVD editions, it's the fact that it looks better than it ever has, period. To understand that, you really have to have some history with the film and its prints through the years. This Blu-ray is absolutely incredible.

[FastAndFluid]

Originally Posted by whitesheik

He didn't really say the same thing - he had many criticisms, none of which were apparent to me on the Blu-ray - and this is a film I know intimately. It's not a question of considering past DVD editions, it's the fact that it looks better than it ever has, period. To understand that, you really have to have some history with the film and its prints through the years. This Blu-ray is absolutely incredible.

I think this attitude is incredibly naive. Most casual readers (who are presumably the intended audience) won't give a fig for whether this is better than previous versions on DVD, although it's worth mentioning if it is (and I think the reviewer did?!?). They just want to know if it looks good compared with other titles in their collection. The reviewer is right to point out the shortcomings because otherwise purchasers unfamiliar with previous versions (ie most of us) will say "How could he give this top marks when it looks pretty poor compared to the better titles in my collection?"

[dsman71]

Now that I have a Region Free Blu Ray this is on my list of ones to get

[JackTwist]

I have been wanting to see this for a very long time... and my patience for US distribution in a proper fashion is dwindling. With a region free player, and despite the presentation issues, is the current edition worth the plunge?