I bought Le procès (The Trial) on DVD a couple months ago purely because I was so thrilled to see an Anthony Perkins movie being sold on DVD. He truly is an actor who's sorely underrated, and here even a copy of Psycho was something I had to seek. I can't say I'm not happy of his being underrated, because I detest fangirliness around my idols. I have a sad feeling there will be a boom of new Perkins fans in the years to come in case Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho and Split Image really make it to the theaters. I have to enjoy while I can...

Because I've once again been dwelling in my love for Perkins (and Norman Bates) in the past couple of days, I finally decided it was time to unwrap Le procès, which I didn't expect much of. The fact that it was based on a Kafka novel made me indifferent; the only Kafka work I've read was The Metamorphosis when I was 13, an experience I found dulling and oppressing back in the day. I've grown to appreciate Kafka just by his reputation, which is a pretty usual modus operandi for me.

Just to refresh your mind, The Trial is about Josef K., who awakens one morning and, for reasons never revealed, is arrested and prosecuted for an unspecified crime. During the first few scenes my key thoughts were, "why are you doing this to yourself?!" (directed at Josef K.), and "Okay, so this is a dream." And then I felt so disappointed in myself. Why do I force myself into this thinking pattern that's nothing more than an easy way out? Why is something fantastical always 'not true'? It dawned on me that, in 'Kafkaverse', it's absolutely true. What you are reading and experiencing is absolutely true. Just get over the "... what?" factor and concentrate on what's at hand.

I instantly knew I'd found something to cap for film_stills, which I hadn't been doing for months. Usually even if I'm desperate about capping movies, I get bored rewatching them so soon (I don't think I've ever capped a film during the first viewing, and I always have to do the capping right away, so I just start over once I'm finished), but this time going through the act of totally immersing myself in the movie just fueled my interest and each frame elongated the feeling of wanting to experience it even deeper. No, I'm not saying I'd watch it for the third time in a day, but I'll definitely say I've found a frighteningly good piece of art that is going to fight it's way into my movie top ten.