Henry and Kristl witnessed The Trial (1962)

"Nowadays you can hardly say anything against Orson Welles without
invoking scorn and ridicule," Kristl mused.

"You were going to?"

"Not on purpose, but I feel a bit apprehensive about it. I mean you
have a certain amount of leeway towards almost any other director,
except for Welles.. You have to say he was a great guy.."

"Pff.." Henry said.

"Yeah."

"You do not have to, with me," Henry said.

"Thanks."

"So, I think it is an old boring slow moving that is a bit confusing,
to say the least," Henry said.

"You think so?"

"I mean, black and white in 1962," Henry said.

"Uh, well..is that such a big thing?"

"Yeah.. and no action."

"Okay..I feel compelled to come to the defense of this movie."

Henry smiled, but he hid his smile behind his hand and pretended to
take sip from his tea, "Hot," he remarked.

"Regardless of anything it's at least a decent film, although it seems
to be all over the place," Kristl said.

"It looks like someone pasted a lot of 'scenes' together without much
sense and pawned it off as a coherent movie," Henry said.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"It seems to be quite true to the book.. which means that any coherence
in the movie, or any incoherence for that matter, must stem from the
book," Kristl said.

"Then the books must be a bit of a confusing mess," Henry said.

"Maybe, but I liked the movie, you know. It was surreal, strange and
unsettling. Which seems appropriate to me.."

"Right."

"For the Kafka story that is."

"Oh, did you read it by the way?"

"No," Kristl shook her head.

"Me neither."

"I think that goes for most of the audience," Kristl said.

"Yeah. So how you know it is fitting?"

"Well, other people say so that it is. Except for the ending. Which was
thought off by Orson Welles. He felt it to be more appropriate. It seem
to have to do with the holocaust. I am not quite sure. Seems more that
the end is fitting to a cold war."

"Yeah. But anyway, too old a movie for me really," Henry said.

"I think it's a good movie, but not astounding. Perkins is such a
dubious choice. At times he is really excellent, but at other times he
seems to be a poor choice. He has these wild mood swings. He constantly
hovers between assertive and dejected. It's just odd how he swings from
one attitude to the opposite."

"Heh."

"And there seems to be no development in his character. He just seems
to go from one mood to the other depending on what is fitting for the
scene at the moment. So there seems to be no humanit that drives him,
just like: in this scene he should be angry and in this scene he should
be desperate."

"Ah."

"It is just a bit to fabricated. A very nice fabrication, but a
fabrication nevertheless."

"Like most movies."

"Yup. Did you know someone made a sequel to the trial?"

"Yes I did. Will Eisner made one called the Appeal. In it justice is
done."

"Oh you know.."

"Hey it's a comic. It was Eisner responding to Kafka. While Kafka
painted a surreal world in which a man was the victim of soulless
bureaucracy, Eisner seems to say that in a democratic society 'they'
would not get away with it in the end."

"Maybe someone should make a movie about that?" Henry said.

"Maybe someone will."

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Henry and Kristl did not last to see 13 Assassins

"Gosh," said Henry.

He and Kristl were both gaping at the large screen that adorned one
side of the wall and which had, mercifully, gone black. A soft sound of
static emitted from the screen. It was the only sound in the otherwise
silent room.

Kristl pressed a button on her wrist watch and glanced at the display.

"Fifteen minutes."

"That long?" Henry gasped.

Kristl nodded.

"Maybe we can skip to the fight, you know the one that is claimed to be
the best since.. Kill Bill?", Henry said.

"I somehow got the feeling that it will be as brutal, sadistic,
gruesome and otherwise revolting as the part of the movie that we have
seen up till now. In fact; I would not want to chance it, even if there
was a small chance that it will turn out to be otherwise."

"Uhm?"

"You think it will?" Kristl stared at him.

"I lost you there... Yet, you know, Kill Bill. It was a great fight
scene. I assume that they mean the fight between the bride and the 99."

"Well the suggestion is there. Assumption and all that."

"It makes me so curious. Just to see if it is really that great."

"The filmmakers would be happy then. They got you hooked by just
alluding to Kill Bill. You immediately draw comparisons. It creates
expectations without actually promising much and thus you want to watch
the movie.Smart advertising."

Henry nodded.

"But just think of this. How many of the movies we have seen started
out one way and then turned into something completely different along
the way?"

"Well.. not that many."

"So what is the likelihood that a movie starting out with one sickening
scene after the other, done in drab colors, populated with
interchangeable characters, done in an unremarkable style and devoid of
humor, will become the opposite in the end? Will become to resemble
Kill Bill?"

"Not very likely..."

"So why should I want to suffer all that just in the forlorn hope that
it might turn out to be different?"

"Eh.. because maybe it will?"

"Okay.. I can not stop you from trying, but I rather watch something
that I like to watch and I think might be watchable till the end. Let's
pop in another movie?"

"We got Azumi and Azumi 2?," Henry smiled at Kristl.

"More Japanese swordplay?"

"Yes. Was that not the reason we actually wanted to watch this one in
the first place: to compare them?"

"That is true."

"Besides.. it has a girl as the lead and.."

"...you like kick-ass girls.." Kristl sighed.

"Nothing wrong with that."

"Only that it is sexist."

"At least it is not grisly."

"As if the one precludes the other."

"Uh? What do you mean?"

"There are some twisted people out there."

"Yeah."

"I hope they remain out there and out of my mind. I find those twisted
images and thoughts disturbing."

"Right."

"One more reason not to watch this movie."

"If you think so. I wish it had a sassy fighter girl..I would have
watched it.. In a skirt that is almost to short.. Like Azumi."

"Pervert."

"Thanks sooo much."

"You are welcome."

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