I selected this DVD off a library shelf at random. I had never heard of Young Torless. My idle curiosity was well rewarded. The film belongs in the same league with Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Zero for Conduct, Lord of the Flies, or other similar works. Perhaps there is allegory here, a foreshadowing of the murderous future of the Germanic peoples. Or maybe a nearer, smaller-scale atrocity: several scenes are as chilling as eavesdropping on a Leopold and Loeb strategy session.This is expertly crafted film making. Everything – casting, shot composition, editing, plot structure – works. Barbara Steele landed one of the great roles of her career. The music is especially effective. Hans Werner Henze's use of modern tonalities played on ancient instruments functions perfectly, achieving the film score ideal that complements the picture and other sounds, a Greek chorus without words. Aided by Henze's score, some of the scenes in Young Torless brought back with painful clarity many a sad, bleak, cloudy-morning memory of sophomore year in high school.

By today's standards, a film like "Young Torless" may seem too coy and archly philosophical (and thus pretentious) a take on the corruption of youth, and the sources from which the corruption stems. Its strength, however, lies in the telling: when a student at a preparatory academy robs a peer to pay off a debt, he finds himself enslaved, both psychologically and sexually, by a gang of rogues looking to push him to the breaking point. In the midst of this is Torless (Matthieu Carriere), a student coming to terms with his identity in the midst of this moral dilemma, and whose mental landscape renders him a frustrated, conflicted character who runs the gamut from cold detachment to vague sympathy. While certain aspects of the film (the homosexual subplot, for instance) seem deliberately repressed due to the era, the implication is enough to give the events an additional potency. The black-and-white cinematography is excellent, capturing a specific atmosphere of dread and meditative solitude--German director Volker Schlondorff is not looking to titillate with sensationalist content, but instead spin a story of a young adult's struggle with the evils of an imperfect world. And on that level, "Young Torless" is one of the best films of its kind.

people should not be distracted about the specifics of the plot,or the tangential,secondary themes of cruelty/sexuality..schlondorf has made his metaphor clear and passionate..people in positions of power(due to talent,wealth,titles of authority,physical stregnth,etc)are not entitled to abuse others,no matter what their alleged justification;and people who witness such abuses and do nothing are worse than enablers, they are accomplices..the obvious association is with the Nazis,but this is a universal problem that could be likened to the Spanish inquisition,the salem witch trials,the torture of prisoners during the iraq war,the red scare hearings and countless others..my own feel is that torless is held up as someone who contributes mightily to this particular evil,but fools himself into thinking he's not involved..his final speech was a lame attempt to justify his conduct..the film may not have been entertaining,but it was thought-provoking

Set in an indefinite time and place (likely the pre-WWI Germany/Austria), at a boarding school for adolescent boys, one student is caught stealing, and subsequently blackmailed and sadistically terrorized. One of his tormentors (the title character) passively observes much of the brutality against the victim, but eventually is overcome with emotions about his part in the evils inflicted on a fellow-student. An eventual investigation into the incidents by the school board leads the authority figures to believe that this "Young Toeless" is emotionally high strung and unfit to continue his studies at the school. Thinly veiled commentaries about young males in a society that expects total obedience and loyalty, while fanning flames of hate and urges to feel superior to others. Physical and emotional torture of a peer is shown as intoxicating and thrilling. The title character escapes this "world" by exclaiming that he now understands all about this "mystery", thus needs no longer to be involved. Once all was found out, the "meeting" among the class, where everyone "got their story straight" reminds of the post WWII investigations (culminating in the Nuremberg Trials), when one citizen would vouch for the other and vice versa, insisting all were innocent or "following orders". An emotional maturity is required for viewing this film. I would not recommend it for an audience under the age of 16. Otherwise this is a thought-provoking drama with many discussion points.