(1944; b/w, Swedish, subtitles) This Grand Prize winner at the Cannes Film Festival, directed by Alf Sjöberg, was Ingmar Bergman's debut as a screenwriter.

A sadistic high-school Latin teacher (Stig Jarrel) torments his students, humiliating them in class when they aren't prepared for the lesson. They refer to him as Caligula behind his back. In particular he picks on Jan-Erik Widgren (Alf Kjellin), accusing him of cheating two weeks before final exams and graduation.

Jan-Erik's ambition is to be a writer and violinist; his chum Sandman calls him "an idealist who believes in innocent women." On his way home from school, Jan-Erik assists an inebriated girl, Bertha Olsson (Mai Zetterling), who works in the tobacco shop, to her apartment. She begs him not to leave her alone, telling Jan-Erik she's afraid someone will return to torment her; desperate she seduces the young man into staying with her.

The headmaster, who is about to retire and an indulgent educator, speaks to the Latin teacher about his reputation with his students: "We shouldn't be the boys' enemy." Caligula defends himself by claiming to be an impartial disciplinarian along with an excuse that he's been very ill. Afterward Caligula meets in private with Jan-Erik, at first making a sympathetic overture, mentioning his illness, asking that Jan-Erik not treat him with aversion and animosity, only then to demand: "I forbid you!"

Jan-Erik spends much of his time out of school with Bertha, who has given him a key to her apartment, but she refuses to tell him who has been frightening her. One afternoon he finds her dead in her bed with evidence of her having been drinking heavily; hiding in a corner is a man whom Jan-Erik accuses of being the murderer: "You scared her to death!"

A medical examination determines the cause of death a result of alcohol poisoning, malnutrition, and poor health, clearing the accused. Following a collapse from exhaustion during school, Jan-Erik at home in bed for rest hallucinates that Bertha and Caligula are in his room together. In a confrontation with Caligula, Jan-Erik slugs his teacher and is expelled from school; the rest of his classmates pass their exams and graduate.

The most arresting image occurs when Caligula describes the one time in his life he said he feared death: a cat bit his hand and sank its claws into his skin, refusing to let go, even after he dunked it into a barrel of water; the creature had to be cut from his limb after it had drowned.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2007 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Patrick Ivers can be reached via e-mail at .