Prison (aka The Devil's Wanton aka Fängelse)
The film opens with a marvellous prologue- a retired maths teacher goes to a former pupil, Martin (Hasse Ekman), now a film director, with an idea for a film about hell. The following conversation about hell and the devil is the moment that Ingmar Bergman becomes Bergman. The film that follows is the true beginnings of what interests the director- religion, God's silence, existential doubt, dreams, cinema and the politics of relationships. There are two plots threads to begin with- that of Tomas (Birger Malmsten), a drunken writer to whom Martin relates the devil story idea to. The other story line is that of Birgitta Karoline (Doris Svelund), a 17 year old prostitute. As the film goes on the two plots lines converge when the two met up again and decide to break away.
The film seems to be post-modern in the sense that it has several scenes of a film been made. The film-within-a-film seems to be little more that a shoddy romance (perhaps a reference to the previous film Bergman had been making?). The conversation at the end about putting questions about the devil and evil on film is fantastic, especially since I know where the later films will go.
There are several very good moments throughout the film-including a nightmare sequence, and Tomas using a small project to show a little silent comedy. This film really is sowing the seeds of Bergman's later films, and it's an enjoyable watch as well, but be warned that Bergman doesn't deliver a predictable ending like his other films.
In comparison with the previous films this really is a stand out.
Rating- 7/10
Top 5-
1) Prison
2) Music In Darkness
3) Torment
4) Port of Call
5) Crisis
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hasse ekman, who plays the filmmaker of the film within the film, was also a filmmaker in real life, and this might be a way of bergman of having some fun with his rival. later the same year ekman made his 'anti-bergman' film 'the girl from the third row', a small masterpiece.
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