In a Glass Cage
A doctor from a Nazi death camp who fled to Spain continues his horrific activities, only to find himself in an iron lung.
Klaus (Günter Meisner) is an ex-Nazi doctor whose war-time post in a concentration camp enabled him to commit the most appalling sex crimes against boys. After the war, living incognito in Spain, he again gives in to his depraved desires, until shame and despair drive him to an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Soon after, Angelo (David Sust) enters his life, a strange, handsome young man. A perverse relationship develops between Angelo and Klaus, becoming ever more macabre as Angelo reveals he has found diaries detailing his employer’s war-time activities. Words turn to deeds, and a new spate of child killings begin…
Inspired by the true story of 15th century French knight Gilles de Rais, this psychological thriller is considered Spanish filmmaker Agusti Villaronga’s masterpiece.
Agustí Villaronga (1953-2023) was a Spanish filmmaker from Palma de Mallorca, known for his poetic and often unsettling explorations of trauma, memory, and identity. He studied History of Art at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona before working in film. His debut feature “Tras el cristal” (1986) premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and established his reputation for bold, psychological cinema. He gained further acclaim with “El niño de la luna” (1989), which earned him a Goya Award for Best Original Screenplay. “Pa Negre” (“Black Bread”, 2010) became a landmark of Catalan-language cinema: it won nine Goya Awards and became the first Catalan-language film selected to represent Spain at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. Later works such as “El mar” (2000) and “El vientre del mar” (2021) earned prizes at the Berlinale and Málaga Film Festival respectively. Villaronga received numerous national honours, including the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts (2022).
Filmography:
(Valik/Selected): Tras el cristal (Klaasist puuris, 1986), El niño de la luna (Moon Child, 1989), 99.9 (1997), El mar (2000), Aro Tolbukhin - En la mente del asesino (2002), Pa negre (Must leib, 2010), El rey de La Habana (2015), Born a King (2019), El ventre del mar (The Belly of the Sea, 2021)
Presented by
