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Torment (film)
Encyclopedia
Torment or Frenzy (UK) is a Swedish film from 1944, directed by Alf Sjöberg, with screenplay by Ingmar Bergman
. The film, a tale of sex, passion and murder, was Bergman's actual directing debut, although the film was mainly directed by Sjöberg.
Latin
teacher, nicknamed "Caligula" by his long-suffering students, rules his classroom like his kingdom. He is exceptionally hard on the diligent Jan-Erik, one of his students. One night Jan-Erik is returning home and finds an intoxicated young woman crying on the street. He recognizes her as Bertha, the clerk in a cigarette store near the school, and he walks her home. Bertha has a taste for both men and liquor, and he spends most of the night on her bedside. He becomes very involved with her, and his school work suffers. Bertha also has an older man whom she fears, although she will not reveal his name. He is Caligula, and he learns of his student's involvement. He makes life harder still for Jan-Erik, and forces Bertha to do his will by threatening to suspend Jan-Erik. But Caligula is too violent with Bertha, and one day, Jan-Erik arrives to find her dead. In a corner, he finds Caligula hiding, and calls the police. With no proof, however, Caligula is soon released, and quickly arranges for the expulsion of Jan-Erik, who accuses Caligula of murder, and finally strikes him in front of the principal of the school. He then goes to stay in Bertha's apartment. The principal of the school comes to the apartment, and offers his assistance in helping Jan-Erik back on track. Caligula comes to the apartment after the principal has left, seeking some sort of forgiveness, but Jan-Erik rejects him and instead walks out into the day to a view that overlooks all Stockholm.
.
Filming, in which Ingmar Bergman took part as an assistant director, took place in two stages. The first stage, for interior scenes, took place from 21 February to 31 March 1944 at the Filmstaden
studios north of Stockholm
and the Södra Latin High School, downtown Stockholm. The second stage, covering the exterior scenes, comprised only ten days in late May of the same year. In his second autobiography Images: My Life in Film, Bergman describes the filming of the exteriors as his actual film directorial debut:
published a letter by Henning Håkanson, principal of the private Palmgren High School where Ingmar Bergman had been a student. Håkanson reacted on an interview with Bergman published in the Aftonbladet the same day the film was released:
A few days later Bergman replied:
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
. The film, a tale of sex, passion and murder, was Bergman's actual directing debut, although the film was mainly directed by Sjöberg.
Plot
A sadisticSadistic personality disorder
Sadistic personality disorder is a diagnosis which appeared only in an appendix of the revised third edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . The current version of the DSM does not include it, so it is no longer considered a valid...
Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
teacher, nicknamed "Caligula" by his long-suffering students, rules his classroom like his kingdom. He is exceptionally hard on the diligent Jan-Erik, one of his students. One night Jan-Erik is returning home and finds an intoxicated young woman crying on the street. He recognizes her as Bertha, the clerk in a cigarette store near the school, and he walks her home. Bertha has a taste for both men and liquor, and he spends most of the night on her bedside. He becomes very involved with her, and his school work suffers. Bertha also has an older man whom she fears, although she will not reveal his name. He is Caligula, and he learns of his student's involvement. He makes life harder still for Jan-Erik, and forces Bertha to do his will by threatening to suspend Jan-Erik. But Caligula is too violent with Bertha, and one day, Jan-Erik arrives to find her dead. In a corner, he finds Caligula hiding, and calls the police. With no proof, however, Caligula is soon released, and quickly arranges for the expulsion of Jan-Erik, who accuses Caligula of murder, and finally strikes him in front of the principal of the school. He then goes to stay in Bertha's apartment. The principal of the school comes to the apartment, and offers his assistance in helping Jan-Erik back on track. Caligula comes to the apartment after the principal has left, seeking some sort of forgiveness, but Jan-Erik rejects him and instead walks out into the day to a view that overlooks all Stockholm.
Cast
- Alf KjellinAlf KjellinAlf Kjellin was a Swedish film actor and director, who also appeared on some television shows.He was well established as a film actor when he occasionally took on roles in television shows. For example in 1965 he prominently guest-starred as Stalag Luft Kommandant Col...
as Jan-Erik Widgren (student at Ring IV L) - Stig JärrelStig JärrelStig Järrel was a Swedish actor, film director and revue artist. Järrel was one of the most popular actors in Sweden during his career, and also one of the most productive, participating in a total of 131 films...
as "Caligula", teacher of Latin language - Mai ZetterlingMai Zetterling-Early life:Zetterling was born in Västerås, Västmanland, Sweden to a working class family. She started her career as an actress by the age of seventeen at Dramaten, the Swedish national theater, and appeared in war-era film starting in her teens.-Career:...
as Bertha Olsson, clerk of the cigarette store - Olof WinnerstrandOlof WinnerstrandCarl Olof Magnus Winnerstrand was a Swedish actor.-Biography:Born in a bourgeois home in Stockholm, Winnerstrand was a son of the well-known Stockholm goldsmith and jeweller C.A. Winnerstrand, and started out in his father's footsteps, learning the trade...
as The Principal - Gösta CederlundGösta CederlundGösta Cederlund, Gustaf Edvard Cederlund, was a Swedish actor and film director.Cederlund was one of Sweden's most popular and appreciated male character actors in Swedish films in the 1930s-50s, appreciated for his naturalness as an actor and comedy play...
as Pippi, teacher - Stig OlinStig OlinStig Olin was a Swedish actor, theatre director, songwriter and singer. Father of actress Lena Olin and Swedish singer Mats Olin...
as Sandman, student - Jan MolanderJan MolanderJan Göran Gustaf Harald Molander was a Swedish actor and film director who had a decades-long dominant career in his country's film and television industry....
as Pettersson, student - Olav Riégo as Mr. Widgren
- Märta Arbin as Mrs. Widgren
- Hugo BjörneHugo BjörneHugo Björne was a Swedish film and theater actor.-Life and career:Björne was born in Varberg on the Swedish west coast. He made his stage debut in 1907 and his film acting debut in 1913, starring in silent movies. Later, Björne would be better known as a supporting actor...
as The Doctor
Background
On 16 January 1943, Ingmar Bergman had been appointed by the Svensk Filmindustri (SF) as an "assistant director and screenwriter" on a one-year initial contract. Bergman, who suffered illness and was hospitalized during the winter of 1942–43, wrote the screenplay for Torment, for which SF acquired the rights in July 1943. The Latin teacher Caligula is partly based on the Latin teacher Sjögren (also played by Stig Järrel) in the 1942 film Lågor i dunklet by director Hasse EkmanHasse Ekman
Hasse Ekman was a Swedish director, actor, writer and producer for film, stage and television.Hasse Ekman is probably Sweden's most successful and critically acclaimed film director pre Ingmar Bergman and post Sjöström and Stiller, with his peak in mid-1940s to the year 1950...
.
Filming, in which Ingmar Bergman took part as an assistant director, took place in two stages. The first stage, for interior scenes, took place from 21 February to 31 March 1944 at the Filmstaden
Filmstaden
Filmstaden was a film studio situated in Råsunda, north of Solna, Sweden. Built by the main Swedish film producer at the time, Svensk Filmindustri, in 1919–1920, Filmstaden was one of the most modern film studios in Europe. Some 400 movies have been created at Filmstaden. The first movie to be...
studios north of Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
and the Södra Latin High School, downtown Stockholm. The second stage, covering the exterior scenes, comprised only ten days in late May of the same year. In his second autobiography Images: My Life in Film, Bergman describes the filming of the exteriors as his actual film directorial debut:
- "When the film was virtually done, I made my debut as a movie director. Originally, Torment ends after all the students have passed their final exam, except for one, played by Alf Kjellin, who walks out through a backdoor into the rain. Caligula stands in the window, waving good-bye. Everybody felt that this ending was too dark. I had to add an additional scene in the dead girl's apartment where the principal of the school has a heart-to-heart talk with Kjellin while Caligula, the scared loser, is screaming on the staircase below. The new final scene shows Kjellin in the light of dawn, walking towards the awakening city. I was told to shoot these last exteriors, since Sjöberg was otherwise engaged. They were my first professionally filmed images. I was more excited that I can describe. The small film crew threatened to walk off the set and go home. I screamed and swore so loudly that people woke up and looked out of their windows. It was four o’clock in the morning."
Reaction
Torment provoked intensive debate in the press about the conditions in the Swedish high schools. On a personal level, the Pro-German newspaper the AftonbladetAftonbladet
Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden. It is one of the larger daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. Aftonbladet is owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Norwegian media group Schibsted, and its editorial page...
published a letter by Henning Håkanson, principal of the private Palmgren High School where Ingmar Bergman had been a student. Håkanson reacted on an interview with Bergman published in the Aftonbladet the same day the film was released:
- "Mr. Bergman's statement, that his entire time at school was hell, surprises me. I clearly recall that he, his brother and his father were all very satisfied with the school. After his final examinations, Ingmar Bergman came back to school to attend our Christmas party, bright and cheery as far as one could tell, and not seeming to harbor any grudge, either against the school or its teachers. In all probability, the fact of the matter lies elsewhere. Our friend Ingmar was a problem child, lazy yet rather gifted, and the fact that such a person does not easily adapt to the daily routines of study is quite natural. A school cannot be adapted to suit bohemian dreamers, but to suit normally constituted, hard working people."
A few days later Bergman replied:
- "Let us start with the '12-year hell' (coarsely expressed, by the way. Not a word used by me, but by the person who interviewed me. I recall using a milder term, which is somewhat different). Indeed…I was a very lazy boy, and very scared because of my laziness, because I was involved with theatre instead of school and because I hated having to be punctual, having to get up in the morning, do homework, sit still, having to carry maps, having break times, doing tests, taking oral examinations, or to put it plainly: I hated school as a principle, as a system and as an institution. And as such I have definitely not wanted to criticize my own school, but all schools. As far as I understand it, and as I clearly pointed out in that unfortunate interview, my school was neither better nor worse than other institutions with the same purpose. My revered headmaster also writes (somewhat harshly): 'A school cannot be adapted to suit bohemian dreamers, but to suit normally constituted, hard working people'. Where should the poor bohemians go? Should pupils be divided up: You're a bohemian, you're a hard-working person, you're a bohemian, etc. Would the bohemians be excused? There are teachers one never forgets. Men one liked and men one hated. My revered headmaster belonged and still belongs (in my case) to the former category. I also have the feeling that my dear headmaster has not yet seen the film. Perhaps we should go and watch it together!"
Distribution titles
- Forfulgt (Denmark)
- Frenzy (Great Britain)
- Hets (Norway)
- Die Hörige (West GermanyWest GermanyWest Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
) - Kiihko (Finland)
- Modae (Japan)
- El sádico (Uruguay)
- Skandal (Poland)
- Spasimo (Italy)
- Stvanice (CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
) - Suplicio (Argentina)
- Torment (USA)
- Tortura (Portugal)
- Tortura (Spain)
- Tourmente (France)
External links
- Har inte herr Widgren läst på läxan! (video) Windows Media Classroom scene with Caligula, the sadistic Latin teacher. The same scene (video) Real Media