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| YOUNG TÖRLESS (1966) | |
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Notions of the origin of evil have caused many philosophers to ponder the dilemma about its whereabouts.
Some suggest that evil is taught as children are born with minds that
bring to mind blank slates. Despite the thoughts that children are blank slates at birth, children can accomplish great evil without any formal training.
All that has to be present is a situation that allows the child to express their unkind cruelty.
Thus, evil could be found in the moments when a child lets their imagination run amok.
Maybe, imagination is the source to evil, especially when boredom sets in.
In any case, Young Törless visualizes the moment when evil arises within
a group of teenagers at a military academy in a dreary countryside to which
only the finest families send their sons. The film opens at the Neudorf railway station where the parents of the young teenager Törless request that his peers will take good care of him. The parents' pleading for safety of their son becomes slightly overwhelming, yet it depicts how much they love their son. It is essential to understand how sheltered Törless has been while his parents have raised him. This illustrates how innocent Törless is to the cruelty of the world into which he soon is about to be initiated. The group of teenagers that waived to Törless’ parent returns to the small town, which gives further depiction of the teenager’s socioeconomic standing in the society. They walk whereever they want without a care in the world, as if they owned the world. The teenagers visit a local inn where they buy wine and gamble without much consideration for the aftermath. Nothing seems to affect them, as they proceed to the military academy where they attend school to become people of high ranking in society. The story is based on the first novel written by the utopian novelist Robert Musil, which takes place in the Austro-Hungarian kingdom in 1906. The director Volker Schlöndorff's adaptation stays fairly close to the novel, as it illustrates the students at the military academy finding the nature of power through self-discovery. The power that these students discover leads them to humiliate, bully, and torture a fellow student that has stolen some money from one of the other students. The main character, Törless, at first wants to report the theft, but is convinced by two other students to delivery the punishment by themselves. Törless struggles with the dilemma of evil, as he finds himself going against the moral values that he has been brought up to respect. Instead he begins a cerebral journey while he studies the degrading behavior of his two peers. Ideas of how evil and good coexist within the person begins to baffle Törless, as he struggles with his desire to further his understand of the evil nature within him. He continues to flirt with evil while trying to stay on the good side, yet eventually he comes to a more clear understanding of what is right and wrong. Many issues seem to affect Törless, as he dwells on the evil within him. Some of these issues that he ponders affect several aspects of his life such as trying to understand his sexuality, women, and their anatomy. Törless' curiosity for women has an obvious connection with his mother, as he seems to look for maternal love in women. This is even suggested by a prostitute performed by Barbara Steele. Strong macho-sadistic tendency in the school triggers Törless' boyish curiosity to further investigate what it truly entails. It almost suggests, on occasion, that Törless might be gay, yet it is never clear as he still seems to try to find his own way to his own identity. Several comparisons have been made in regards to the Nazi regime through Young Törless, which are evidently present through the structure of the students psyche at the academy. The sadistic elements that dehumanize the student in the way that they bully him are the strongest elements that depict this notion. The strong autocratic control that they exercise over the young thief in the military academy elevates the notion of fascism. In retrospect, this military academy served as a breeding machine for new generations of young extremists, bigots, and callous hypocrites, which viewed themselves above others while lying about their own desires and behaviors. Young Törless was Volker Schlöndorff's first feature film that brought him into the world of cinema. The film is not technically advanced, but the way he told the visual story through many suggestive shots and cinematic moments is breathtaking. The shot where Törless and Beineberg are sitting in a café where Törless is studying the waitress' neck and arm is wonderful. However, this scene is followed by an even better shot, where Törless and Beineberg stare at each other in silence for a good 20 seconds until the waitress drops a glass on the floor. These shots are good examples of how well directed Young Törless is, as it leaves the audience with a highly contemplative cinematic experience. |
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DIRECTED BY |
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| Volker Schlöndorff | |
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Germany / France |
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| REVIEWED | |
| 3/17/2005 | |
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The Internet Movie Database. |
