Anthony Perkins plays Joseph K a man condemned for an unnamed crime in an unnamed country Seeking justice Joseph K is sucked into a labyrinth of bureaucracy (Welles once described the character as being a little bureaucrat himself who deserves to be punished This is never clearly expressed in the finished film) Along the way he becomes involved with three women -- Jeanne Moreau Romy Schneider Elsa Martinelli -- who in their own individual ways are functions of the System that persecutes him