Young Torless
Young Torless is a German movie based on the novel of Robert Musil and takes place in an all-boys boarding school in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The boarding school is a private school run along military lines and is for children of the wealthy citizens in of the empire.
The main character is a teenage boy by name of Torless. After his arrival at the school, Torless befriends three other fellow pupils, the tall, arrogant, and charismatic Beineberg, the impulsive, violant Reiting, and the weak, submissive Bassini. The four of them develop a clique, until Bassini, who is deep in financial debt to other students, breaks into Beineberg’s locker one night and steals money.
Instead of turning him in to the authorities, the three decide to punish Bassini themselves, mainly in the attic or basement of the school during the nights. While Beineberg and Reiting actively participate in the punishments, Torless mainly stands by and observes. The boys become ever more violant and sadistic with Bassini as time goes on, they beat him to a pulp, stab him, molest him, hyptnotize him, and also threaten to shoot him. Eventually they turn him in to the class, and the entire class turns on Bassini. Torless eventually tries to intervene, but it is too little too late.
Young Torless is a fascinating and deep movie about how good and evil exist simultaneously and people can become good or do evil depending on the situation they are in with or without logic. The movie is not an easy one to take, due to its negative aspects and themes, as well as a lack of likeable characters, however, it is one that speaks a great deal of truth about human nature and society.