Young Törless
| Young Törless | |
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| Directed by | Volker Schlöndorff |
| Produced by | Franz Seitz |
| Written by | Volker Schlöndorff Herbert Asmodi Robert Musil (novel) |
| Starring |
Mathieu Carrière Marian Seidowsky Bernd Tischer Fred Dietz |
| Music by | Hans Werner Henze |
| Cinematography | Franz Rath |
| Edited by | Claus von Boro |
| Distributed by | Cine-International |
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Release date
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Running time
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87 minutes |
| Country | West Germany / France |
| Language | German |
Young Törless (German: Der junge Törless) is a 1966 German film directed by Volker Schlöndorff, adapted from the autobiographical novel The Confusions of Young Törless by Robert Musil. It deals with the violent, sadistic and homoerotic tendencies of a group of boys at an Austrian military academy at the beginning of the 20th century.
The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century. When Thomas Törless (Mathieu Carrière) arrives at the academy, he learns how Anselm von Basini (Marian Seidowsky) has been caught stealing by fellow student Reiting (Fred Dietz), and is obliged to become Reiting's "slave," bowing to Reiting's sadistic rituals. Törless follows their relationship with intellectual interest but without emotional involvement.
Also partaking in these sessions is Beineberg (Bernd Tischer), with whom Törless visits Bozena (Barbara Steele), the local prostitute. Again, Törless is aloof and more intrigued than excited by the woman.
He is however very eager to understand imaginary numbers, which are mentioned in his maths lesson. The maths teacher is unwilling or unable to explain what these are, stating that in life, emotion is what rules everything - even mathematics.
After Basini is humiliated and suspended upside down in the school gym because of one of Reiting's intrigues, Törless realises intellectually that the other boys are simply cruel. He seems no more or less emotionally moved by this than by the revelation that he cannot understand imaginary numbers. He decides that he does not want to partake in cruelty, so decides to leave the academy. His teachers think that he is too "highly strung" for his own good, and do not want him to stay anyway - they are part of the system which can allow such terrible things to be done to the weak and vulnerable.
At the end of the film Törless is dismissed from the school and leaves with his mother, smiling.
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