Every now and then in film noir, a man finds a troubled woman on the street and helps her home out of the kindness of his heart (see, for example, 1958’s Una golfa), but it rarely leads to anything good for either party. Such is the case for high school student Jan-Erik Widgren (Alf Kjellin) in Alf Sjöberg’s Hets (US: Torment) as his encounter with the drunk and despondent Bertha Olsson (Mai Zetterling in a remarkably modern performance) on a street near his home leads to romance (including sex on the first night, which would have horrified American censors at the time), but also to terror and tragedy. Famously written by Ingmar Bergman (his first original screenplay), the film also stars Stig Järrel as Caligula, the tyrannical and mentally disturbed Latin teacher who earns his nickname on a daily basis, especially whenever Jan-Erik is in his presence. It’s a gloriously beautiful film with some of the most memorable B&W cinematography ever to come out of Sweden, occasionally taking on a horror dimension, such as whenever the shadow of Bertha’s mysterious visitor shows up to torment her. Stunning aerial shots of the school grounds and grand lobby open the film, the camera slowly panning and landing on a young boy late for school, as if spotted by the punishing eye of God. Notably, the film won the grand prize at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.