Joseph K in USA !

Rating: 10/10 (5 June 2005)

Kafka comes to America in this startling and disturbing thriller that explores the decent of a mind into delusion and madness through insomnia and finally guilt. Not since Polanski's "Repulsion" has mental breakdown been so frighteningly portrayed on the screen. The Joseph K of this excursion into hallucination is one Trevor Reznik as played by Christian Bale.With suggestions of Welles "The Trial" in the low key contrasty photography of bleak haunting landscapes, wherein even an amusement park is threatening and sinister to say nothing of the grim factory scenes. But finally it is the riveting performance of an emaciated Christian Bale, that captivates the film, obviously his best portrayal yet. Bale is hardly recognizable (looking like an escapee from a Concentration Camp) and far from the sophisticated suit he played in "American Psycho" Although it appears to be set in USA, the style of the film is firmly rooted in Spain, and it is Spanish films that seem to capture so well the twilight worlds such as this. Not for the feint hearted, but an excellent excursion into Kafka territory.