Fängelse (1949)

Synopsis
Ingmar Bergman's sixth feature film, The Devil's Wanton offers in embryonic form many of the themes explored in Bergman's later work. Math teacher Anders Henrikson, recently released from a mental institution, decides to exorcise his inner demons in film form. Henrikson persuades film director Hasse Ekman, a former student, to put together a film depicting an Earth in the hands of the Devil. Ekman passes the idea on to writer Birger Malmstein, who coincidentally is currently going through Hell on Earth with his prostitute lover (Doris Svedlund). She, in turn, is being tormented by her former pimp. A black-Sabbath variation on Schnitzler's La Ronde, The Devil's Wanton was produced by Lorens Malmstadt, the man who first saw box-office potential in Bergman, even with bleak, defeatist films of this nature. Originally titled Fangelse, The Devil's Wanton has also been released as Prison. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide