The Trial (1948 film)

The Trial
Film poster
Directed byG. W. Pabst
Written byEmmerich Roboz
Screenplay byRudolf Brunngraber
Kurt Heuser
Emeric Roboz
Produced byJohann Alexander Hübler-Kahla
StarringEwald Balser
CinematographyHelmut Ashley
Oskar Schnirch
Edited byAnna Höllering
Music byAlois Melichar
Release date
  • 5 March 1948 (1948-03-05)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryAustria
LanguageGerman

The Trial (German: Der Prozeß) is a 1948 Austrian drama film directed by G. W. Pabst. At the 9th Venice International Film Festival, Pabst won the Award for Best Director; Ernst Deutsch won the award for Best Actor and the Volpi Cup.[1] The story is based on the events of the Tiszaeszlár affair.[2]

Plot summary

Eszter, a young catholic peasant girl, is treated badly by her employer and forced to run away from home. Immediately after her disappearance, a rumour spreads that the girl was murdered by some Jewish temple servants in the village, since she had last been seen at one of their homes, specifically the temple servant Scharf.

Inspector Bary was assigned investigate the case by the anti-Semitic Baron Ónódy. He manages to extract a confession from Scharf's young son. However, there are some discrepancies in the reconstruction of the events. This is noticed by Christian lawyer Dr. Eötvös (Ewald Balser), who personally takes charge of the defence of the accused.

Cast

References

  1. ^ "Venice Film Festival 1948". Film Affinity. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  2. ^ Lisa Silverman (April 2017). "Absent Jews and Invisible Antisemitism in Postwar Vienna: Der Prozeß (1948) and The Third Man (1949)". Journal of Contemporary History. 52 (2): 211–228 (214). doi:10.1177/0022009417696452. JSTOR 44504013 – via academia.edu.