In a Glass Cage (1986)
Deeply, deeply disturbing look at the tyranny of power and the relationship between captor and victim as played out through the interactions between a paralyzed pedophile ex-Nazi confined to an iron lung and his sinister, sadist-in-training young nurse, who has motivations of his own. Plays out like the deranged nightmare brother to Apt Pupil except without that film's timidity. Bold, striking, intense, unforgettable and often unwatchably grotesque; much like Haneke's masterpiece Funny Games, it would probably improve upon a second viewing (the director holds his motive cards pretty closely until the end) but since that would mean sitting through it again I'm not in a big hurry to find out.
Grade: B+
Deeply, deeply disturbing look at the tyranny of power and the relationship between captor and victim as played out through the interactions between a paralyzed pedophile ex-Nazi confined to an iron lung and his sinister, sadist-in-training young nurse, who has motivations of his own. Plays out like the deranged nightmare brother to Apt Pupil except without that film's timidity. Bold, striking, intense, unforgettable and often unwatchably grotesque; much like Haneke's masterpiece Funny Games, it would probably improve upon a second viewing (the director holds his motive cards pretty closely until the end) but since that would mean sitting through it again I'm not in a big hurry to find out.
Grade: B+
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