Widgren, a boarding-school senior, is terrorized by his sadistic Latin teacher. When Widgren falls for a troubled local girl, Bertha, he finds himself caught up even further in a web of emotional mind games.

Alf Sjöberg’s tense school drama doubles as a critique of institutions and Nazi allegory. More significant may be its 24-year-old screenwriter & assistant director, Ingmar Bergman, who considers this his debut: his “first professionally filmed images.” Winner of the Palme d’Or, in an eleven-way tie!