When I was watching this movie, like the character I felt incredibly lonely and isolated. I'm crediting that to Perkins' performance as well as Welles' directing. It might just be me, but I felt that it was a very powerful conveyance, definitely unsettling and slightly disturbing.
shareYeah, I know what you mean. The tone and mood of the film (and the Kafka book) are rather cold and analytical, with a slight surrealist edge (well, some scenes are very surrealist, actually), but at the same time very humane and beautiful. I'm really into that kind of ambience. If you liked it, you may find the work of Ingmar Bergman appealing, as well as some David Lynch.
The BBC version of The Trial (dir. David Hugh Jones) is also pretty good, stars Kyle Mclachlan and Anthony Hopkins. It's not as "jazzy" and fast as the Welles version, it's a more relaxed and paused version, with more academic/traditional cinematography, and it's not as personal as Welles made his film. I can't understand the low rating for that film here on IMDb - maybe people compare it to the Welles version and give it a low rating based on such comparison, which I didn't, since I found it also to be a powerful film. Although Perkins is brilliant in this version, Mclachlan also does a great job, I think he's a great actor for Joseph K. role. Anyone who's watched Twin Peaks will know what I mean.
Last film watched:
The Trial by Orson Welles - 10/10
Anthony Perkins is so wonderfully terrified, so paranoid, so seemingly aware that "They" are watching his every move (how does that make the audience feel?), so uncertain. He demonstrates so much vulnerability here that he might as well have performed the role while totally naked.
I don't think it's quite up to his turn in Psycho, but what is?
"Tis a coward I am - but I will hold your coat."