Torment (Hets)
Directed by Alf Sjöberg
Written by Ingmar Bergman
1944/Sweden
Svensk Filmindustri
First viewing/Hulu Plus
[box] Caligula: Cheating, my good sir, cheating![/box]
Torment is a reminder that Ingmar Bergman was as great a screenwriter as he was a director. This is his very first time out and it’s impressive. Certainly not something to watch while depressed though!
All the boys in 4th year Latin hate and fear their sadistic teacher, whom they call “Caligula” behind his back. Caligula (Stig Järrel) delights in roaming through the class waving his stick around and pouncing on each victim unawares. He conducts the student’s recitation like a prosecutor cross-examining the defendant in a capital murder trial. His favorite target seems to be Jan-Erik Widgren, an artistic, sensitive boy who seems remarkably well-prepared with his studies for this treatment. When he spots some penciled notes in the boy’s text he gives him a demerit for cheating and calls his father. Unfortunately, Jan’s father seems to share some of Caligula’s characteristics himself. Jan’s mother dotes on him but is utterly ineffective in dealing with the father.
In the meantime, Jan happens upon a girl he has seen behind the counter at a tobacconist’s shop. Bertha (Mai Zetterling) is staggering drunk through the streets. Jan takes her home. Bertha begs him to stay. She is scared to death of a man who will not leave her alone, although she has tried to end the relationship. Despite the idealistic Jan’s previous vow to hold out for love, he does so. And although Bertha is a “bad girl”, love comes anyway. But Bertha’s tormenter is still in the picture and Jan’s jealousy gets the better of him. Then things get much, much worse for everybody concerned.
This movie had me more on edge than any horror film. I kept waiting for something terrible to happen and then it did. On the other hand, the acting is superb. Järrel, in particular, was phenomenal in a role in which he had to be despicable and pathetic all at the same time. And of course Bergman was a genius at getting at the psychological truths of the human heart. At least this movie has a somewhat redemptive ending. It’s a bit more melodramatic than Bergman’s later work but still well worth seeing if you are in the mood for some well-made torment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cch7Z2UIkM
Clip – A hard lesson
