Torment DVD

Torment (also known as Frenzy) is based on Ingmar Bergman's first screenplay and was directed by another great Swedish director, Alf Sjoberg, who, like Bergman, was to influence generations of filmmakers to come.

The film charts the relationship between sensitive school boy, Jan-Erik, his sadistic overbearing school master, nicknamed Caligula, and his older girlfriend, Bertha. Jan-Erik discovers that he is not the only man Bertha is seeing, she is being stalked and harassed by a mysterious older man. A visit to Bertha prompts a confrontation with his school master which leads to the boy making strong indictments against the master and the master becoming increasingly vindictive.

Set at the height of World War Two the character of Caligula was based heavily upon Heinrich Himmler and portrays him as a character of weakness using cruelty to cover his shortcomings. The harsh pessimism and darkly surreal visuals offer a glimpse into the brilliance that Bergman would show in his later works.

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