Film Still

Torment

Alf Sjöberg

Sweden

1944

101 minutes

Black and White

1.33:1

Swedish

Synopsis

Ingmar Bergman’s first produced screenplay was for the great Swedish filmmaker Alf Sjöberg’s Torment, a dark coming-of-age drama about a boarding-school senior, Widgren, terrorized by his sadistic Latin teacher. When Widgren falls for a troubled local girl, Bertha, he finds himself caught up even further in a web of emotional mind games.

Cast

CaligulaStig Järrel
Jan-Erik WidgrenAlf Kjellin
Bertha OlssonMai Zetterling
HeadmasterOlof Winnerstrand
PippiGösta Cederlund
SandmanStig Olin
TeacherGunnar Bjornstrand

Credits

DirectorAlf Sjöberg
ProducerHarald Molander and Victor Sjostrom
Assistant directorIngmar Bergman
ScreenplayIngmar Bergman
CinematographyMartin Bodin
MusicHilding Rosenberg
Set designerArne Åkermark

From the Current

Eclipse Series 1:
Early Bergman

by Michael Koresky Mar 26, 2007

Torment (1944) marked the official emergence of Ingmar Bergman onto the world cinema stage. Though directed by his renowned compatriot Alf Sjöberg, it was the twenty-four-year-old Bergman’s big break as a screenwriter and, in its themes and preoccupations, is a remarkably precocious precursor...

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