Young Törless (1966): A Picspam
I've wanted to do this since maybe forever, and it took me a long time, and I am so proud.
Robert Musil's "The Confusions Of Törless" is one of my favorite books, and Volker Schlöndorff's "Young Törless" is the movie of that book.
It's set in a 1800's boy's military school, and in short, it's the story of two sadistic young cadets who abuse a classmate physically, mentally, and sexually after he has become completely dependent on them. And it's really the story of a fourth student, who could put a stop to it all, but chooses not to. It's stark, twisted, decadent, amoral, sexually charged, and contains some stunning insights into teenage clique dynamics.
It's played a huge part in my awakening as a slash fangirl when I read it at 13. Which is all kinds of wrongbad, but no regrets. You could read "Törless" or watch it simply because you want an uncompromising look at a society that encourages cruelty and punishes weakness. But in fandom terms, you could also like it if you like hurt/comfort, non-con, power plays, and boys in uniform being terrible to each other. And I wanted my picspam to reflect this, so I made sure it contains equal parts serious analysis, and inappropriate squee.
The story starts out a little slow, but it truly becomes a roller coaster. (And I mean not only from a slash perspective, but as a genuinely riveting story, as well.) I still love it, and the four main characters remain some of my favorite characters of all time. I would be glad if I could convince some more people to check it out through my humble picspam. But above all, this is a gift to myself.
Needless to say, this picspam contains TRIGGERS for abuse, sexual abuse, bullying, and animal deaths.
"But Papa, What Could Possibly Happen To Me?"
