USCCB - (Film and Broadcasting)

Trial, The

Alphabetical Listing of Movie Reviews

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Trial, The -- Nightmarish tale of anxiety and alienation from the Franz Kafka novel in which Joseph K. (Anthony Perkins), a junior office manager in a nameless European city, is arrested for an unspecified crime, but can learn nothing about the case from his lawyer (Orson Welles) or court officials before facing his executioners in an apocalyptic ending. Also written and directed by Welles, the surreal proceedings are filled with dark images and labyrinthian visuals of a hapless individual caught in an impersonal, bureaucratic legal system, though much of this vivid excursion into the absurb remains troublingly obscure. Some stylized violence, menacing situations, sexual innuendo and an instance of profanity. (A-III) (br) ( 1963 )

These movies have been evaluated for artistic merit and moral suitability by the media reviewing division of Catholic News Service. The reviews include the CNS rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

A-I -- general patronage;
A-II -- adults and adolescents;
A-III -- adults;
L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
O -- morally offensive.

Note: Some movies previously were designated A-IV. Older films with this classification should be regarded as classified L.