‘Emotion is what rules everything
- even Mathematics.’
One of the definite films of New
German wave and an impressive debut feature film of Volker Schlondorff. The
film is tale of a victimized juvenile boy of boarding school who just to
protect his secret of stealing once became the subject for constant bullying
and brutal torture by a group of fellow students. However the film emphasized
the other boy named Torless, who, though knowing the truth, observing the
cruelty and internally feeling disgust but failed to make an attempt to protect
him. The film is subtle and meaningful portrayal of inner voice repressed by
cowardice, inherent inhibition and escapism of its protagonist. The victimized
boy only felt sadist torture physically, it’s the observer of the oppression
felt hurt mentally. It touched and explored so brilliantly the inner struggle
of body and soul, guilt and humiliation, courage and repression, rational and
moral. And I just so admired the ending of the film, its fine example of
linking the philosophical truth so introspectively in the story without being
didactic or manipulative. And this is ‘401 Blows’, if you know what I mean!
I think I'll get back to this film once i finished reading the original novel by Robert Musil.
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