Young Törless (1966): A Picspam [2/2]
As everyone gets progressively more poisoned by power, we move into the second half of "Young Törless", where the (dark) magic really happens. (This picspam contains TRIGGERS for abuse, sexual abuse, bullying, and animal deaths. This part may also be mildly NSFW.)
38. ) MATH INTERLUDE, YOU GUYS!
We now get to the part where Törless struggles to grasp the concept of imaginary numbers. Sigh. Being math illiterate, this really isn't my favorite part. Let's get through this together, shall we?
While the Basini situation is still simmering in the background, Törless becomes confused (and, honestly, kind of offended) by the concept of imaginary numbers. The gist is that, while he expects math to be something founded in logic, imaginary numbers require abstract thinking and even something like faith, at least at this point in the curriculum. (I’m sure imaginary numbers are really very logical. I wouldn’t know.) This disturbs Törless, who, as we remember, has trouble reconciling contradictions and is always looking for the tangible.
Törless wants to share his problem with Beineberg, who, as helpful as ever, makes fun of him and then launches into a clumsy imitation of their priest. Törless decides to go straight to the source, and arranges a meeting with their math teacher.
Everyone always wonders if the teacher is Basini’s dad. Spoilers: he’s not. I get why everyone thinks he is though.
This is somewhat of an amusing scene in the book (if it wasn’t, you know, about math). Törless seeks guidance in the math teacher but finds him wanting. He’s expecting him to be some sort of wizened scholar, but he’s just a small-time academic in a dingy study who assures him that, yes, one day Törless will understand imaginary numbers, just not now. Törless is profoundly unsatisfied by this. He has again failed to find something of substance for his life. And maybe an intellectual figure to look up to.
39.) From the theoretical right to the visceral: while this is happening, Reiting assaults Basini and drags him off.
And then he makes him look at porn with him.
40.) I know, right? I was expecting something harsher too. It’s nevertheless very queasy. It’s implied that Reiting uses Basini sexually in some capacity. Whether or not Basini sees it as abuse is completely open to interpretation, at least until later, when it gets really, really bad.
I want to point out that for a time before the internet, Reiting actually has a decent porn collection. Some of the images I couldn’t even show. It's also noteable that he has both straight and gay porn.
41.) Meanwhile Beineberg, who, as we all remember, WANTS TÖRLESS FUCKING DEAD, hides to trip him down a flight of steep-ass stairs as he returns from the math teacher. Beineberg. He’s the gift that keeps on giving. Anyway, he pulls him aside to tell him that Reiting has secret meetings with Basini, which he interprets as betrayal. They agree to meet up in the storeroom, just the two of them, to discuss what to do about it.
I just love the nasty look Beineberg shoots Reiting in the last panel. That’s all.
42.) What follows now is easily one of the weakest scenes in the movie, which is sad because it’s great in the book. It’s just that Bernd Tischer, who plays Beineberg, practically drowns in the dialogue. He’s not the greatest actor anyway, but here, he just can’t handle it. Which is understandable, because he says a lot of things here that no eighteen year old boy would plausibly say.
However. Beineberg shatters Törless’ world a little more by telling him that Reiting has gotten sexually involved with Basini. He then revels in the fact that he could easily ruin the both of them by giving them up. But he has other plans. He is unwilling to give up Reiting because he’s “too valuable”, but Basini is another story. Now that he’s realized how lowly Basini really is, he wants to use him as a subject for his experimentation on the human soul. Basically, he wants to see if he can effectively destroy Basini through humiliation and torture.
43.) And then, he goes on to fondle his dagger like a supervillain. Really not my favorite scene in the movie.
Törless, as you may remember, is also interested in Basini’s soul. But he’s repelled by Beineberg’s approach. “He didn’t like Reiting at all, but now he remembered the charming, impudent, free-and-easy manner with which he set up his intrigues, while Beineberg, on the other hand, struck him as shameful, quiet and grinning as he contracted his many-threaded, loathsome grey cocoon of ideas around the other boy.”
44.) The next day, Törless is approached by Reiting, who playfully asks him what he thinks of Basini. Instead of replying “Dude, I’m so uncomfortable right now”, as he probably wants to, Törless reluctantly says that he thinks Basini is vile. He half-heartedly scolds Reiting for getting involved with him, but he takes it in stride. They agree that Reiting is to set up a rendezvous with Basini the following night. Törless feels left out as the older two gallivate off together.
45.) If his expression is anything to go by, Basini obviously believes that his alliance with Reiting has somehow solved his problems. He’s shocked to find all three of his capturers expecting him. Reiting approaches him and Basini clearly hopes for a moment that he’s going to protect him, but gets slapped in the face instead.
This is the first prolonged torture scene in the movie, and it’s very well done. And by "well done", I mean "hard to watch".
46.) Reiting proceeds to humiliate Basini in front of the others, and Beineberg tells him he’s made matters worse for himself now that he’s revealed how low he is willing to go. Basini pleads with them to please understand, he didn’t have a choice. (And technically, he hasn't. His mother doesn't have much money, and the boarding school is basically his only chance at a decent education; it's understandable why he's afraid.) But Beineberg and Reiting jump him and beat him viciously. Törless is tempted to join in, but stays put, paralyzed and mesmerized by the proceedings. He gets physically aroused (in the book at least, and from the way it's described you can pretty much assume that everyone except maybe Basini has a boner in this scene) and is at the same time disgusted with himself and deeply fascinated with the cruel display.
No images because all of this happens off screen and also, who wants to see that. Hell, I love the two bullies and even I don’t want to see that.
47.) As Basini emerges from the darkness again, bloodied and bruised, Törless prompts him to say that he’s a thief. Törless looks quite mischievous in this scene, but his intent is pretty sincere. He really wants to hear Basini admit it, wants him to maybe realize something about himself. It’s odd, but also in-character, that after all the blackmail, the beatings and the rape, Törless is somehow still hung up on the theft.
The whole concept flies right over the heads of Reiting and Beineberg, who congratulate Törless to his novel idea to torment Basini, before they force him to say that he’s a beast, their filthy, swinish beast. Basini complies in the most disaffected voice he can muster. Törless feels that his initial intent has been tainted, and hearing Basini say he’s a thief gives him nothing.
48.) OTP 4 LYFE, YOU GUYS.
Yeah, I know. I know. I’ll stop now.
49.) Törless wakes up the next morning as if from a nightmare. But he’s unable to shake the knowledge that what he took part in yesterday was real. Outside he finds Reiting, undoubtedly still gunning for “best sociopath”, torturing a little mouse in front his jeering peers (goddamnit, it must be so boring where they are). Törless can’t stand it and ends the animal’s plight by smashing it to death.
Now, this is the scene that prompted people to walk out at the original Cannes premiere, which is kinda understandable, since the violence against the actors is, well, acted and this isn't. I doubt the mouse was actually killed, though. The thing that Törless kills is visibly made out of rubber. Still, “no animals were harmed in the making of this film” obviously wasn’t such a big deal back then. Also: foreshadowing!
50.) Törless tries to make sense of the situation by writing down his thoughts, but is promptly caught by Reiting. Reiting is unamused that Törless is writing about their exploits, but Beineberg doesn’t care as long as Törless keeps their real names out of it.
This scene is not in the book, and I'm pretty sure it's Schloendorff being meta, since Robert Musil based Reiting, Beineberg and Basini on boys he actually went to school with. It’s eerie to think this happened. And probably not just once, either.
51.) Beineberg and Reiting leave to spend the weekend at a schoolmate’s house, while Törless, who is not in a partyin' mood somehow, stays behind. Basini does, too. Which means that Törless is now more or less alone with the person who is the lynchpin of his entire confusion. For a few days, Törless and Basini circle each other uncomfortably, unsure what to do about each other.
52.) Eventually, Törless can’t resist anymore. He wakes Basini in the middle of the night, and makes him to go to the storeroom with him. Basini obeys him without question. And when they arrive, he immediately undresses himself.
In the book, Törless finds himself intensely attracted to naked Basini and his androgynous features. In the film, this element is more or less glossed over. Törless is embarrassed and makes Basini put his clothes back on, then asks what the hell he was thinking. Basini is confused, and eventually reveals that both Reiting and Beineberg use him sexually.
Törless, who FOR SOME REASON had not figured that one out by now, is appalled. He insists Basini tell him everything. Now Basini is appalled. Interestingly, doing things he can bare, but talking about them seems awful to him. Which actually makes tons of sense. Basini reluctantly tells Törless what the other two do with him.
Again, I love this because it delves deeper into Reiting's and Beineberg's crazy, but it also casts a stark look at abuser/victim relationships. Basini tells Törless how Reiting is his "friend", because he is "kind" to him. By which he means, he's kind to him when they have sex, but then beats him afterwards. "He says that if he didn't beat me he'd have to believe I was a man, and then he couldn't be so soft and gentle with me. But that way I belong to him, and he's not embarrassed."
Let…that sink in for a moment.
In contrast, Basini calls Beineberg "frightful". He described how Beineberg tries to use him for his experiments on the human soul, and subjects him to bizarre tortures like sticking needles into him, sitting on him, or making him bark like a dog and grunt like a pig; but eventually, he always breaks down and forces him to have sex, "much worse than Reiting". It's a very chilling description.
Basini also thinks that Beineberg barely believe his "hocus pocus" himself, and that it's all just his long-winded way to commit sexual abuse. Which is a really, really lucid observation for Basini.
53.) Please note that Törless giving Basini his jacket back is the single nicest thing anyone does for him in this movie.
54.) What follows now is a great, powerful scene, especially in the novel. Basini's passivity and willingness to let all of this happen enrages Törless. He insults and yells at him, threatens to torture him as well, but more to get a reaction out of him than anything else. Törless still doesn't understand how. How a perfectly normal person can become what Basini has become. "What is happening inside you?" He asks. "Does something explode in you? Tell me!"
Basini, reduced to tears, can only repeat (and I truly, really feel for him in this moment): "I don't know what you want; I can't explain anything to you. It happens on the spur of the moment; it can't happen any other way; you would do exactly the same as I do!"
That shuts Törless up.
55.) Exhausted, and disturbed by that last statement, he gives up on questioning Basini.
(At this point in the novel, Basini seduces Törless, and they have a short, bittersweet relationship. Basini clings to Törless and Törless feels reluctantly protective of him. Schlöndorff opted to leave this out, which is a shame, because it adds an additional layer to the events that take place later. Also, boysex. Sorry.)
56.) The others return in great spirits. (I ALWAYS want to know what happened between Reiting and Beineberg on their special little weekend. The fanfic, it writes itself. Anyway.) They find Törless in a sourly mood. He looks at his friends very differently now; his discomfort with the situation is growing.
57.) In the novel, he also feels embarrassed about what happens between him and Basini, but that'd be a dangling thread in the movie, so nevermind. Ever busy, Reiting and Beineberg call for another council, to determine the future of Basini.
58.) Reiting and Beineberg discuss the changes in Basini's attitude. Apparently, he has grown cocky again, and refuses to obey them like he used to. (Again, in the book, this is related to his little talk with Törless, and their relationship.) Beineberg suggests they step it up a notch, and then launches into a cruel, twisted monologue that is one of the greatest things in the entire story, and it belongs to Reiting. This is Reiting's monologue in the book and it matches his personality perfectly; I was gutted that they gave it to Beineberg. But anyway, in the movie, Reiting is the brute and Beineberg is the schemer, so let's roll with it.
"Perhaps we could just hand him over to the class. That would be the smartest thing to do. If everyone, and there are so many, contributes just a little, it's enough to tear him to pieces. I like these mass movements as a rule. No one intends to do anything in particular, and yet the waves grow even higher until they crash together over everyone's heads. You'll see, no one will stir, and yet there will be a raging storm. It gives me extraordinary pleasure to stage something like that."
Do you have chills right now? I know I do.
59.) It also makes more sense for Reiting to say it, because in the book, Beineberg stops him to say he has one last experiment to carry out with Basini before handing him over to the class. In the movie, he simply says there's this one thing he still wants to do. He is very, very excited about it. And you know at this point that, if Beineberg is very, very excited about something, it's time to run in the other direction.
However, Törless is still incapable of freeing himself from his friend's toxic influence; morbid curiosity lets him agree to come to the storeroom and witness whatever Beineberg has planned.
Then, everyone hangs out quite decoratively on a bridge some more.
60.) The next night brings the revelation of Beineberg's master plan, and everyone, even Reiting, swiftly realizes that he has gone off the deep end when he PULLS OUT HIS GUN. However, there's no way back now; there's a maniac with a pistol present. Beineberg goes on to explain that he will now hypnotize Basini to fly because he is able to completely seize control of the boy's soul.
Nobody giggles because, again, Beineberg has a freaking gun, and things really aren't funny anymore.
61.) This is another fantastic scene. It's ridiculously pompous, darkly funny, and completely unsettling. Basini, paralyzed with fear, plays along with Beineberg's "experiment". He barely reacts when Beineberg sticks a needle in him, even though he is clearly in pain. Marian Seidowsky does great things with his face here.
62.) The show goes on, until, inevitably, it's revealed to everyone and Beineberg that Basini is incapable of flight, when he falls to the floor. Reiting, who is always pleased to see Basini suffer and his rival Beineberg fail, does the sensible thing and starts laughing, which further sends Beineberg into a fit of rage.
63.) Surprisingly, nobody gets shot in this scene; Beineberg apparently decides that he's not quite ready for first-degree-murder, and starts to viciously beat Basini instead. Not surprisingly, Reiting is immediately on board, and joins in. The important thing is Törless' reaction: where there has been sick fascination before, there's only sickened disgust now. He doesn't participate in hurting Basini, but he doesn't help him, either; he simply walks away, letting the vile brutality play out behind him. His emancipation from his "friends" is complete.
However, it doesn't speak for Törless' character that he actually believes he'll be able to simply walk away from this.
63.) In one of the more heartbreaking scenes in the movie, Basini comes to Törless one last time for help. He shows him his fresh scars, he pleads with him. It's interesting to note that Törless is as disgusted with Basini as he is with the violence. He wants nothing to do with either him, or the situation. Basini doesn't understand. "But you were so nice to me not so long ago." (Imagine how much more powerful this scene would have been if they'd really had their relationship; but I digress.)
It isn't easy to understand why Törless is being so cruel, unless you remember that he, too, used Basini as a tool to seek some hidden truths within the world and himself.
(It occurs to me that Törless is a great character when you're interested in questions of identity and perception, but in the actual context of the situation, he is a cold, insufferable little prick.)
Anyway, before he can really turn his back on Basini, Reiting catches them in what he thinks is a "secret rendezvous", and shit gets real.
64.) Reiting is mad at Törless, but he threatens Basini instead: he promises him that he'll be punished for meeting with Törless, and that his "guardian angel" Törless will be there himself to watch it. But this time, Törless declines the invitation to Reiting's and Beineberg's little fun and torture club: for the first time, he stands up to Reiting. Not for Basini, but for himself.
"You make me sick! Your nastiness is meaningless. That's the repellent thing about you."
And with that, he walks off like a boss, leaving Reiting seething with rage.
65.) A shot to remind you that Basini is, indeed, the saddest person on earth by this point.
66.) The evening comes, and Reiting and Beineberg show up to confirm that Törless has officially left the friend zone, and is now in the "potential victim" bracket. It's another scene that I love. They tell him that they are going to throw Basini to the wolves/their classmates tomorrow, but it's not too late for Törless if he repents. If you have paid any attention at all, you know that being straight-up threatened by these two little angels spells imminent doom. But Törless has now grown a spine, and faces them down.
67.) Reiting and Beineberg leave Törless be for the moment, but only to conspire with the other boys, sealing Basini's fate. Beineberg caps it all off with a meaningful "I Will End You"-look as he passes by Törless. Remember when these two used to hang out?
68.) Törless watches the proceedings with mounting dread.
69.) And for the first time in perhaps the entire book/movie, he decides to somewhat involve himself in what's happening.
70.) In what is his first decent decision in quite a while or perhaps ever, he wakes Basini, and warns him that Beineberg and Reiting are about to unleash an entire mob on him.
I hate to say it, but. Too little, too late, buddy.
71.) Judgement day. Are you ready for this? No, seriously. This is going to be ugly.
I hate to wax on this movie all the time, but this is seriously fantastically done and really chilling. Basini comes into the gym the next day, and finds his classmates circling him like hungry dogs. Being Basini, he even tries to appease everyone with a twitchy smile. But the other boys, starved for excitement, are clearly out for blood.
72.) It is shocking, and devastating, how willingly the rest of the class - boys we have barely seen or heard - takes part in the destruction of Basini. As if they have waited to eat one of their own the entire time; and they probably have. And Reiting and Beineberg know that. Törless watches on in indifferent disgust as the gym gets barricaded.
(By the way, it is never really mentioned if Basini reacted to Törless' warning in the movie. It's never brought up again. In the book, he confesses his theft to the school authorities, though the class gets him first.)
73.) The room is sealed, and the discomfort starts. It's Reiting and Beineberg's ultimate takedown of Basini; and they are masters at it. They start by reading letters from Basini's mother to the class, so everyone can humiliate him and make lewd comments about her. This is especially grave if you remember how important mothers are in this, and how strongly these boys feel about their mothers. This pushes Basini over the edge, and for a singular, magical moment in this story, he actually fights back. It's heartbreaking.
74.) He stands no chance. A student pushes him and he falls right into Törless arms. They exchange a last look, and then Törless ... pushes him off and leaves him to his own devices. He averts his gaze, repulsed, and at the same time, relieved. (I know I've talked a lot about Marian Seidowsky, but this is great moment for Mathieu Carriere who plays Törless.)
75.) What follows now is terrible and inevitable. Basini gets abused and beaten by the entire class, they strip him, they gag him. It's exactly what Reiting and Beineberg have wanted: a raging sea, a perfect storm of mob mentality and violence.
76.) All the other boys are extras, but the leering, and the almost lustful glee everyone gets out of stringing Basini up cuts deep.
77.) By NOW, however, the authorities have somehow dislodged their thumbs from their asses, and figured out that something might be really, really wrong in their institution. As they break open the door, the lynch mob disperses, leaving what is left of Basini dangling from the ceiling.
78.) I'm assuming that Törless ran out of the gym, and then just kept running, because when we next see him, he is escaping the institute as the soundtrack goes completely fucknuts. And I'm not a fan of the guy, and making this picspam as actually made me like him less, but I'm righ there with him. Run, Törless, run. That's not a good place to be.
However, Beineberg and Reiting still have some nastiness to dispense: after their lynching party got broken up by the teachers, they are now plotting with the class how to deflect the blame on someone else. And that someone is Basini, the thief.
And because this is a terrible, terrible world, they get away with it.
79.) Like I said, and I will say it again, I do like Reiting and Beineberg, because they are horrible people but great characters. They put up an elegant performance for the teachers, convincing them that what happened to Basini was an act of helpless frustration, when Basini refused to respond to their attempts to "reform" him. "In short, it was a well-organized farce, brilliantly staged by Reiting, and by way of excuse it struck every moral note that was likely to find favour with the teachers."
Yeah, that's right. Moral.
Reiting and Beineberg are let off the hook. Törless, meanwhile, is chumming it up with Bozena. He has a much more positive outlook than he used to, as shocking as that may seem. He's not afraid to face the teachers anymore; he's not afraid to face life anymore. Because he got through something that he'd never believed even possible. With a strengthened resolve, he returns to face the music. I mean, the teachers.
80.) Groan. This scene.
So, here's the thing. This scene is supposed to be the great conclusion to the story; because it's about Törless. The teachers ask him why he acted the way he did, why he kept quiet about Basini's theft, why he ran away, and he answers them. But the problem is, after all the shit Basini's suffered through (who you never see again, by the way; he got expelled), Törless' problems with morality and duality and whatnot seem so petty. But I'm supposing that's the point. Törless has always approached Basini's situation like some sort of theorem, and he's always made it all about him, so he might as well talk about it. The scene is supposed to be satirical, too, because of how clueless the teachers are. But for me, it has never quite worked, neither in the book nor the movie.
However. Törless happily, proudly shares his great revelation with the teachers:
"I'm not afraid of anything anymore. I know: things are things and will remain so forever; and no doubt I will see them now one way, now another. Now with the eyes of reason, now with those other eyes ... And I will no longer try to compare the two..."
The teachers then conclude that Törless is mentally unstable and expel him, too. Comedy!
81.) The movie ends on the same bleak landscape where it began. Törless' mother is there, but this time, she is taking him with her. Her son has matured, even if he took the most scarring and traumatizing route possible. Törless no longer has trouble reconciling the two worlds, the world of light and the one of darkness. And even though I still think the ending is unsatisfying, and even though in hindsight it's a weird decision to have a boy tortured, abused, and beaten within an inch of his life only to teach the main character that "things are things", I like this movie and I love the book ... and I can't deny that it ends on a deliciously subversive line:
"What is it, my son?"
"Nothing, Mama. I was just thinking about something."
And he breathed in the faintly perfumed fragrance rising from his mother's waist.
Part One Is Here.
38. ) MATH INTERLUDE, YOU GUYS!
We now get to the part where Törless struggles to grasp the concept of imaginary numbers. Sigh. Being math illiterate, this really isn't my favorite part. Let's get through this together, shall we?
While the Basini situation is still simmering in the background, Törless becomes confused (and, honestly, kind of offended) by the concept of imaginary numbers. The gist is that, while he expects math to be something founded in logic, imaginary numbers require abstract thinking and even something like faith, at least at this point in the curriculum. (I’m sure imaginary numbers are really very logical. I wouldn’t know.) This disturbs Törless, who, as we remember, has trouble reconciling contradictions and is always looking for the tangible.
Törless wants to share his problem with Beineberg, who, as helpful as ever, makes fun of him and then launches into a clumsy imitation of their priest. Törless decides to go straight to the source, and arranges a meeting with their math teacher.
Everyone always wonders if the teacher is Basini’s dad. Spoilers: he’s not. I get why everyone thinks he is though.
This is somewhat of an amusing scene in the book (if it wasn’t, you know, about math). Törless seeks guidance in the math teacher but finds him wanting. He’s expecting him to be some sort of wizened scholar, but he’s just a small-time academic in a dingy study who assures him that, yes, one day Törless will understand imaginary numbers, just not now. Törless is profoundly unsatisfied by this. He has again failed to find something of substance for his life. And maybe an intellectual figure to look up to.
39.) From the theoretical right to the visceral: while this is happening, Reiting assaults Basini and drags him off.
And then he makes him look at porn with him.
40.) I know, right? I was expecting something harsher too. It’s nevertheless very queasy. It’s implied that Reiting uses Basini sexually in some capacity. Whether or not Basini sees it as abuse is completely open to interpretation, at least until later, when it gets really, really bad.
I want to point out that for a time before the internet, Reiting actually has a decent porn collection. Some of the images I couldn’t even show. It's also noteable that he has both straight and gay porn.
41.) Meanwhile Beineberg, who, as we all remember, WANTS TÖRLESS FUCKING DEAD, hides to trip him down a flight of steep-ass stairs as he returns from the math teacher. Beineberg. He’s the gift that keeps on giving. Anyway, he pulls him aside to tell him that Reiting has secret meetings with Basini, which he interprets as betrayal. They agree to meet up in the storeroom, just the two of them, to discuss what to do about it.
I just love the nasty look Beineberg shoots Reiting in the last panel. That’s all.
42.) What follows now is easily one of the weakest scenes in the movie, which is sad because it’s great in the book. It’s just that Bernd Tischer, who plays Beineberg, practically drowns in the dialogue. He’s not the greatest actor anyway, but here, he just can’t handle it. Which is understandable, because he says a lot of things here that no eighteen year old boy would plausibly say.
However. Beineberg shatters Törless’ world a little more by telling him that Reiting has gotten sexually involved with Basini. He then revels in the fact that he could easily ruin the both of them by giving them up. But he has other plans. He is unwilling to give up Reiting because he’s “too valuable”, but Basini is another story. Now that he’s realized how lowly Basini really is, he wants to use him as a subject for his experimentation on the human soul. Basically, he wants to see if he can effectively destroy Basini through humiliation and torture.
43.) And then, he goes on to fondle his dagger like a supervillain. Really not my favorite scene in the movie.
Törless, as you may remember, is also interested in Basini’s soul. But he’s repelled by Beineberg’s approach. “He didn’t like Reiting at all, but now he remembered the charming, impudent, free-and-easy manner with which he set up his intrigues, while Beineberg, on the other hand, struck him as shameful, quiet and grinning as he contracted his many-threaded, loathsome grey cocoon of ideas around the other boy.”
44.) The next day, Törless is approached by Reiting, who playfully asks him what he thinks of Basini. Instead of replying “Dude, I’m so uncomfortable right now”, as he probably wants to, Törless reluctantly says that he thinks Basini is vile. He half-heartedly scolds Reiting for getting involved with him, but he takes it in stride. They agree that Reiting is to set up a rendezvous with Basini the following night. Törless feels left out as the older two gallivate off together.
45.) If his expression is anything to go by, Basini obviously believes that his alliance with Reiting has somehow solved his problems. He’s shocked to find all three of his capturers expecting him. Reiting approaches him and Basini clearly hopes for a moment that he’s going to protect him, but gets slapped in the face instead.
This is the first prolonged torture scene in the movie, and it’s very well done. And by "well done", I mean "hard to watch".
46.) Reiting proceeds to humiliate Basini in front of the others, and Beineberg tells him he’s made matters worse for himself now that he’s revealed how low he is willing to go. Basini pleads with them to please understand, he didn’t have a choice. (And technically, he hasn't. His mother doesn't have much money, and the boarding school is basically his only chance at a decent education; it's understandable why he's afraid.) But Beineberg and Reiting jump him and beat him viciously. Törless is tempted to join in, but stays put, paralyzed and mesmerized by the proceedings. He gets physically aroused (in the book at least, and from the way it's described you can pretty much assume that everyone except maybe Basini has a boner in this scene) and is at the same time disgusted with himself and deeply fascinated with the cruel display.
No images because all of this happens off screen and also, who wants to see that. Hell, I love the two bullies and even I don’t want to see that.
47.) As Basini emerges from the darkness again, bloodied and bruised, Törless prompts him to say that he’s a thief. Törless looks quite mischievous in this scene, but his intent is pretty sincere. He really wants to hear Basini admit it, wants him to maybe realize something about himself. It’s odd, but also in-character, that after all the blackmail, the beatings and the rape, Törless is somehow still hung up on the theft.
The whole concept flies right over the heads of Reiting and Beineberg, who congratulate Törless to his novel idea to torment Basini, before they force him to say that he’s a beast, their filthy, swinish beast. Basini complies in the most disaffected voice he can muster. Törless feels that his initial intent has been tainted, and hearing Basini say he’s a thief gives him nothing.
48.) OTP 4 LYFE, YOU GUYS.
Yeah, I know. I know. I’ll stop now.
49.) Törless wakes up the next morning as if from a nightmare. But he’s unable to shake the knowledge that what he took part in yesterday was real. Outside he finds Reiting, undoubtedly still gunning for “best sociopath”, torturing a little mouse in front his jeering peers (goddamnit, it must be so boring where they are). Törless can’t stand it and ends the animal’s plight by smashing it to death.
Now, this is the scene that prompted people to walk out at the original Cannes premiere, which is kinda understandable, since the violence against the actors is, well, acted and this isn't. I doubt the mouse was actually killed, though. The thing that Törless kills is visibly made out of rubber. Still, “no animals were harmed in the making of this film” obviously wasn’t such a big deal back then. Also: foreshadowing!
50.) Törless tries to make sense of the situation by writing down his thoughts, but is promptly caught by Reiting. Reiting is unamused that Törless is writing about their exploits, but Beineberg doesn’t care as long as Törless keeps their real names out of it.
This scene is not in the book, and I'm pretty sure it's Schloendorff being meta, since Robert Musil based Reiting, Beineberg and Basini on boys he actually went to school with. It’s eerie to think this happened. And probably not just once, either.
51.) Beineberg and Reiting leave to spend the weekend at a schoolmate’s house, while Törless, who is not in a partyin' mood somehow, stays behind. Basini does, too. Which means that Törless is now more or less alone with the person who is the lynchpin of his entire confusion. For a few days, Törless and Basini circle each other uncomfortably, unsure what to do about each other.
52.) Eventually, Törless can’t resist anymore. He wakes Basini in the middle of the night, and makes him to go to the storeroom with him. Basini obeys him without question. And when they arrive, he immediately undresses himself.
In the book, Törless finds himself intensely attracted to naked Basini and his androgynous features. In the film, this element is more or less glossed over. Törless is embarrassed and makes Basini put his clothes back on, then asks what the hell he was thinking. Basini is confused, and eventually reveals that both Reiting and Beineberg use him sexually.
Törless, who FOR SOME REASON had not figured that one out by now, is appalled. He insists Basini tell him everything. Now Basini is appalled. Interestingly, doing things he can bare, but talking about them seems awful to him. Which actually makes tons of sense. Basini reluctantly tells Törless what the other two do with him.
Again, I love this because it delves deeper into Reiting's and Beineberg's crazy, but it also casts a stark look at abuser/victim relationships. Basini tells Törless how Reiting is his "friend", because he is "kind" to him. By which he means, he's kind to him when they have sex, but then beats him afterwards. "He says that if he didn't beat me he'd have to believe I was a man, and then he couldn't be so soft and gentle with me. But that way I belong to him, and he's not embarrassed."
Let…that sink in for a moment.
In contrast, Basini calls Beineberg "frightful". He described how Beineberg tries to use him for his experiments on the human soul, and subjects him to bizarre tortures like sticking needles into him, sitting on him, or making him bark like a dog and grunt like a pig; but eventually, he always breaks down and forces him to have sex, "much worse than Reiting". It's a very chilling description.
Basini also thinks that Beineberg barely believe his "hocus pocus" himself, and that it's all just his long-winded way to commit sexual abuse. Which is a really, really lucid observation for Basini.
53.) Please note that Törless giving Basini his jacket back is the single nicest thing anyone does for him in this movie.
54.) What follows now is a great, powerful scene, especially in the novel. Basini's passivity and willingness to let all of this happen enrages Törless. He insults and yells at him, threatens to torture him as well, but more to get a reaction out of him than anything else. Törless still doesn't understand how. How a perfectly normal person can become what Basini has become. "What is happening inside you?" He asks. "Does something explode in you? Tell me!"
Basini, reduced to tears, can only repeat (and I truly, really feel for him in this moment): "I don't know what you want; I can't explain anything to you. It happens on the spur of the moment; it can't happen any other way; you would do exactly the same as I do!"
That shuts Törless up.
55.) Exhausted, and disturbed by that last statement, he gives up on questioning Basini.
(At this point in the novel, Basini seduces Törless, and they have a short, bittersweet relationship. Basini clings to Törless and Törless feels reluctantly protective of him. Schlöndorff opted to leave this out, which is a shame, because it adds an additional layer to the events that take place later. Also, boysex. Sorry.)
56.) The others return in great spirits. (I ALWAYS want to know what happened between Reiting and Beineberg on their special little weekend. The fanfic, it writes itself. Anyway.) They find Törless in a sourly mood. He looks at his friends very differently now; his discomfort with the situation is growing.
57.) In the novel, he also feels embarrassed about what happens between him and Basini, but that'd be a dangling thread in the movie, so nevermind. Ever busy, Reiting and Beineberg call for another council, to determine the future of Basini.
58.) Reiting and Beineberg discuss the changes in Basini's attitude. Apparently, he has grown cocky again, and refuses to obey them like he used to. (Again, in the book, this is related to his little talk with Törless, and their relationship.) Beineberg suggests they step it up a notch, and then launches into a cruel, twisted monologue that is one of the greatest things in the entire story, and it belongs to Reiting. This is Reiting's monologue in the book and it matches his personality perfectly; I was gutted that they gave it to Beineberg. But anyway, in the movie, Reiting is the brute and Beineberg is the schemer, so let's roll with it.
"Perhaps we could just hand him over to the class. That would be the smartest thing to do. If everyone, and there are so many, contributes just a little, it's enough to tear him to pieces. I like these mass movements as a rule. No one intends to do anything in particular, and yet the waves grow even higher until they crash together over everyone's heads. You'll see, no one will stir, and yet there will be a raging storm. It gives me extraordinary pleasure to stage something like that."
Do you have chills right now? I know I do.
59.) It also makes more sense for Reiting to say it, because in the book, Beineberg stops him to say he has one last experiment to carry out with Basini before handing him over to the class. In the movie, he simply says there's this one thing he still wants to do. He is very, very excited about it. And you know at this point that, if Beineberg is very, very excited about something, it's time to run in the other direction.
However, Törless is still incapable of freeing himself from his friend's toxic influence; morbid curiosity lets him agree to come to the storeroom and witness whatever Beineberg has planned.
Then, everyone hangs out quite decoratively on a bridge some more.
60.) The next night brings the revelation of Beineberg's master plan, and everyone, even Reiting, swiftly realizes that he has gone off the deep end when he PULLS OUT HIS GUN. However, there's no way back now; there's a maniac with a pistol present. Beineberg goes on to explain that he will now hypnotize Basini to fly because he is able to completely seize control of the boy's soul.
Nobody giggles because, again, Beineberg has a freaking gun, and things really aren't funny anymore.
61.) This is another fantastic scene. It's ridiculously pompous, darkly funny, and completely unsettling. Basini, paralyzed with fear, plays along with Beineberg's "experiment". He barely reacts when Beineberg sticks a needle in him, even though he is clearly in pain. Marian Seidowsky does great things with his face here.
62.) The show goes on, until, inevitably, it's revealed to everyone and Beineberg that Basini is incapable of flight, when he falls to the floor. Reiting, who is always pleased to see Basini suffer and his rival Beineberg fail, does the sensible thing and starts laughing, which further sends Beineberg into a fit of rage.
63.) Surprisingly, nobody gets shot in this scene; Beineberg apparently decides that he's not quite ready for first-degree-murder, and starts to viciously beat Basini instead. Not surprisingly, Reiting is immediately on board, and joins in. The important thing is Törless' reaction: where there has been sick fascination before, there's only sickened disgust now. He doesn't participate in hurting Basini, but he doesn't help him, either; he simply walks away, letting the vile brutality play out behind him. His emancipation from his "friends" is complete.
However, it doesn't speak for Törless' character that he actually believes he'll be able to simply walk away from this.
63.) In one of the more heartbreaking scenes in the movie, Basini comes to Törless one last time for help. He shows him his fresh scars, he pleads with him. It's interesting to note that Törless is as disgusted with Basini as he is with the violence. He wants nothing to do with either him, or the situation. Basini doesn't understand. "But you were so nice to me not so long ago." (Imagine how much more powerful this scene would have been if they'd really had their relationship; but I digress.)
It isn't easy to understand why Törless is being so cruel, unless you remember that he, too, used Basini as a tool to seek some hidden truths within the world and himself.
(It occurs to me that Törless is a great character when you're interested in questions of identity and perception, but in the actual context of the situation, he is a cold, insufferable little prick.)
Anyway, before he can really turn his back on Basini, Reiting catches them in what he thinks is a "secret rendezvous", and shit gets real.
64.) Reiting is mad at Törless, but he threatens Basini instead: he promises him that he'll be punished for meeting with Törless, and that his "guardian angel" Törless will be there himself to watch it. But this time, Törless declines the invitation to Reiting's and Beineberg's little fun and torture club: for the first time, he stands up to Reiting. Not for Basini, but for himself.
"You make me sick! Your nastiness is meaningless. That's the repellent thing about you."
And with that, he walks off like a boss, leaving Reiting seething with rage.
65.) A shot to remind you that Basini is, indeed, the saddest person on earth by this point.
66.) The evening comes, and Reiting and Beineberg show up to confirm that Törless has officially left the friend zone, and is now in the "potential victim" bracket. It's another scene that I love. They tell him that they are going to throw Basini to the wolves/their classmates tomorrow, but it's not too late for Törless if he repents. If you have paid any attention at all, you know that being straight-up threatened by these two little angels spells imminent doom. But Törless has now grown a spine, and faces them down.
67.) Reiting and Beineberg leave Törless be for the moment, but only to conspire with the other boys, sealing Basini's fate. Beineberg caps it all off with a meaningful "I Will End You"-look as he passes by Törless. Remember when these two used to hang out?
68.) Törless watches the proceedings with mounting dread.
69.) And for the first time in perhaps the entire book/movie, he decides to somewhat involve himself in what's happening.
70.) In what is his first decent decision in quite a while or perhaps ever, he wakes Basini, and warns him that Beineberg and Reiting are about to unleash an entire mob on him.
I hate to say it, but. Too little, too late, buddy.
71.) Judgement day. Are you ready for this? No, seriously. This is going to be ugly.
I hate to wax on this movie all the time, but this is seriously fantastically done and really chilling. Basini comes into the gym the next day, and finds his classmates circling him like hungry dogs. Being Basini, he even tries to appease everyone with a twitchy smile. But the other boys, starved for excitement, are clearly out for blood.
72.) It is shocking, and devastating, how willingly the rest of the class - boys we have barely seen or heard - takes part in the destruction of Basini. As if they have waited to eat one of their own the entire time; and they probably have. And Reiting and Beineberg know that. Törless watches on in indifferent disgust as the gym gets barricaded.
(By the way, it is never really mentioned if Basini reacted to Törless' warning in the movie. It's never brought up again. In the book, he confesses his theft to the school authorities, though the class gets him first.)
73.) The room is sealed, and the discomfort starts. It's Reiting and Beineberg's ultimate takedown of Basini; and they are masters at it. They start by reading letters from Basini's mother to the class, so everyone can humiliate him and make lewd comments about her. This is especially grave if you remember how important mothers are in this, and how strongly these boys feel about their mothers. This pushes Basini over the edge, and for a singular, magical moment in this story, he actually fights back. It's heartbreaking.
74.) He stands no chance. A student pushes him and he falls right into Törless arms. They exchange a last look, and then Törless ... pushes him off and leaves him to his own devices. He averts his gaze, repulsed, and at the same time, relieved. (I know I've talked a lot about Marian Seidowsky, but this is great moment for Mathieu Carriere who plays Törless.)
75.) What follows now is terrible and inevitable. Basini gets abused and beaten by the entire class, they strip him, they gag him. It's exactly what Reiting and Beineberg have wanted: a raging sea, a perfect storm of mob mentality and violence.
76.) All the other boys are extras, but the leering, and the almost lustful glee everyone gets out of stringing Basini up cuts deep.
77.) By NOW, however, the authorities have somehow dislodged their thumbs from their asses, and figured out that something might be really, really wrong in their institution. As they break open the door, the lynch mob disperses, leaving what is left of Basini dangling from the ceiling.
78.) I'm assuming that Törless ran out of the gym, and then just kept running, because when we next see him, he is escaping the institute as the soundtrack goes completely fucknuts. And I'm not a fan of the guy, and making this picspam as actually made me like him less, but I'm righ there with him. Run, Törless, run. That's not a good place to be.
However, Beineberg and Reiting still have some nastiness to dispense: after their lynching party got broken up by the teachers, they are now plotting with the class how to deflect the blame on someone else. And that someone is Basini, the thief.
And because this is a terrible, terrible world, they get away with it.
79.) Like I said, and I will say it again, I do like Reiting and Beineberg, because they are horrible people but great characters. They put up an elegant performance for the teachers, convincing them that what happened to Basini was an act of helpless frustration, when Basini refused to respond to their attempts to "reform" him. "In short, it was a well-organized farce, brilliantly staged by Reiting, and by way of excuse it struck every moral note that was likely to find favour with the teachers."
Yeah, that's right. Moral.
Reiting and Beineberg are let off the hook. Törless, meanwhile, is chumming it up with Bozena. He has a much more positive outlook than he used to, as shocking as that may seem. He's not afraid to face the teachers anymore; he's not afraid to face life anymore. Because he got through something that he'd never believed even possible. With a strengthened resolve, he returns to face the music. I mean, the teachers.
80.) Groan. This scene.
So, here's the thing. This scene is supposed to be the great conclusion to the story; because it's about Törless. The teachers ask him why he acted the way he did, why he kept quiet about Basini's theft, why he ran away, and he answers them. But the problem is, after all the shit Basini's suffered through (who you never see again, by the way; he got expelled), Törless' problems with morality and duality and whatnot seem so petty. But I'm supposing that's the point. Törless has always approached Basini's situation like some sort of theorem, and he's always made it all about him, so he might as well talk about it. The scene is supposed to be satirical, too, because of how clueless the teachers are. But for me, it has never quite worked, neither in the book nor the movie.
However. Törless happily, proudly shares his great revelation with the teachers:
"I'm not afraid of anything anymore. I know: things are things and will remain so forever; and no doubt I will see them now one way, now another. Now with the eyes of reason, now with those other eyes ... And I will no longer try to compare the two..."
The teachers then conclude that Törless is mentally unstable and expel him, too. Comedy!
81.) The movie ends on the same bleak landscape where it began. Törless' mother is there, but this time, she is taking him with her. Her son has matured, even if he took the most scarring and traumatizing route possible. Törless no longer has trouble reconciling the two worlds, the world of light and the one of darkness. And even though I still think the ending is unsatisfying, and even though in hindsight it's a weird decision to have a boy tortured, abused, and beaten within an inch of his life only to teach the main character that "things are things", I like this movie and I love the book ... and I can't deny that it ends on a deliciously subversive line:
"What is it, my son?"
"Nothing, Mama. I was just thinking about something."
And he breathed in the faintly perfumed fragrance rising from his mother's waist.
Part One Is Here.