Summary
A young virgin and a jealous servant make their way to a church to deliver candles, but along the way they encounter trouble.
My Thoughts
Ingmar Bergman is my favorite director. In my time working with True Myth Media, I haven’t had a chance to review any of his films yet, so this will be my first for the site. Criterion Collection just released a newly restored version of this film, so, naturally, I bought it without seeing it. Bergman has never disappointed me, and “The Virgin Spring” is no different. It’s a film riddled with religious symbolism and beautiful imagery, but it’s also an incredibly heartbreaking film and the closest thing I’ve seen to a Bergman action movie. This review will be rather spoiler-heavy, as I’d really like to go into some of the metaphors.
(MAJOR SPOILERS IN THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH)
The film is set in medieval Sweden, and it opens with Ingeri (Gunnel Lindblom, “The Seventh Seal”), a pregnant servant girl living on a farm. Unbeknownst to her devoutly Christian host family, Ingeri is a pagan, and she prays to the Norse god, Odin. We meet the farm’s master, Tore (Max Von Sydow, “Hour of the Wolf”), his wife, Mareta (Birgitta Valberg, “Smiles of a Summer Night”) and then we are introduced to their daughter, Karin (Birgitta Pettersson, “The Magician”), who is a virgin. Mareta says that candles must be taken to a church, which is about a days ride from their farm. Karin, accompanied by Ingeri, takes off into the woods. After an encounter with a man in the forest, Ingeri feels like they should stop for the night. She stays behind at a river crossing, while Karin continues. After the Bridge Keeper makes advances towards Ingeri, she makes haste to try to catch up to Karin. Karin, still alone, runs into a group of three goat herdsman; one is thin and does all the talking (Axel Duberg, “The Devil’s Eye”), one is mute (Tor Isedal, “The Seventh Seal”), and the third is only a boy (Ove Porath). The four break bread and eat, but suddenly the two older men attack Karin, rape, and kill her. Ingeri sees this from a hiding place, and eventually we learn that she prayed to Odin for Karin’s death. We then cut back to Tore and Mareta on the farm; they worry about the return of their daughter. The herdsmen, fleeing the scene of their crime, travel by the farm, and ask for food and shelter during the night. Tore accepts them into his home, and after dinner, the thin herdsman offers Mareta Karin’s dress, saying it was their sisters. Mareta recognizes the dress and tells Tore. Tore decides to exact revenge.
(MAJOR SPOILERS END)
This is not a light film, but when one goes into a Bergman film, I suppose that should be expected. The plot of this film is rather simplistic; it’s essentially a rape/revenge thriller, but it’s the craft and the metaphors that elevate this film to brilliance. “Virgin Spring” won best foreign film in 1960, and honestly, that surprised me. This movie is incredibly brutal for the 1960s. The depiction of rape is grotesque and disturbing, the themes covered are bleak yet beautiful, and the violence at the end of the film is intense and visceral (not gory, but there is some blood). It’s a wonderful film, and I’m happy it did win best foreign, but it’s so bleak I’m surprised it was at all well received in America.
The cinematography in this movie is pretty amazing. Much of the film takes place in the woods, or on Tore’s farm, but none of the shots are boring. The shots of Karin and Ingeri riding through the woods are beautiful, and in the beginning of the journey, it seems almost as if they are riding through some forest in the land of the fae. Streams of light dance through the leaves, lakes shimmer beside them; all of it is made even more beautiful by the luminous presence of Karin, who is made to be a sort of golden child throughout this whole movie. However, after Karin crosses the river (which is a recurring metaphor), aided by the Bridge Keeper, the woods take on a grimmer look. She passes by fallen trees, more treacherous terrain, and eventually, she comes to her craggy, dismal resting place.
The acting in this movie is fine. I feel like, particularly in old foreign films, the acting is almost always a touch melodramatic, but that’s just a sign of the time in which this was filmed. Everything back then was more stage-like, and for me, that’s fine. I can forgive a little melodrama in older films because that’s just the way everyone acted in those times. However, there are some scenes that transcended the melodrama. Max Von Sydow and Birgitta Pettersson are easily the best in their roles here. The heartbreak Von Sydow feels is devastating, and the way Pettersson acts during the rape scene is horribly sad and incredibly difficult to watch. The rape scene, I’d like to say, is actually more graphic than some of the more modern rape/revenge movies. Think of last year’s “Revenge” (2017); the rape itself happens offscreen. In this film, the whole of the rape by two men is shown in its entirety, and then the immediate aftermath of Karin coming to terms with what happened is shown as well. It’s incredibly difficult to watch.
The best part of this film, like almost all of Bergman’s films, comes with the metaphors. Bergman was raised Lutheran, and over his career he struggled with his faith. A crisis of faith is a constant theme that he wrestles with, and this film is similar in that regard. “The Virgin Spring” tackles a heavier topic; why does God allow bad things to happen to good people, and can good things come out of horrible circumstances. This film, while bleak and horrible to watch at times, comes with an underlying theme of salvation and redemption. The biggest metaphor in this film is crossing the river. Crossing the river, in this film, is essentially death. On one side of the river is life, the river itself represents hell or death without salvation, and the opposite side of the river represents heaven or a place with God’s presence. There is a scene after the rape, before Tore’s revenge, when the monk (or Beggar as IMDb lists him) talks to the youngest Herdsman, and he explains this whole metaphor in great detail while trying to save the boy's soul:
"You shall cross a narrow plank; so narrow you can't find your footing. Below you roars a great river. It's black and wants to swallow you up. But you pass over it unharmed. Before you lies a chasm so deep you can't see the bottom. Hands grope for you, but they can't reach you. At last you stand before a mountain of terror. It spews fire like a furnace, and a vast abyss opens at its feet. A thousand colors blaze there: Copper and iron, blue vitriol and yellow sulfur. Flames dazzle and flash and lash at the rocks. And all about men leap and writhe, small as ants, for this is the furnace that swallows up murderers and evildoers. But at the very moment you think you're doomed, a hand shall grasp you and arm circle around you, and you'll be taken far away... where evil no longer has power over you."
This whole film is like the drawing we’ve all seen before in church, of the cross over the pit; showing the path to salvation in a very simplistic way.
(MAJOR SPOILERS ABOUT ENDING OF FILM)
In the end, after Tore has exacted his revenge, he asks God’s forgiveness for what he has done. They go to the place where Karin’s body lays and the family sink into tears. Tore leaves his wife and goes down to a stream, where he stares blankly across the water and questions why God has done this to him. Starring across the river is furthering the metaphor of God being across the river, the river being death. He tells God that as penance for what he has done; he will build a church of brick and mortar on the very spot of his daughter’s murder. When Tore picks up his daughter’s body, a spring comes from the very spot where she lay, and Ingeri washes herself in the spring. This springing forth of water gives water another meaning. From Karin’s death, from her sacrifice, a well of salvation will come. Because of her death, her father is creating a church, where, God willing, many people will come to know Christ. It’s a beautiful metaphor for the concept of salvation, and it shows how even in the worst of times, God can still find a way to use even the worst circumstances for good.
(MAJOR SPOILERS END)
Verdict
I loved this movie. It’s everything I could want from a Bergman film. It’s a simple story, but it’s unique and has many meaningful layers. Bergman was a genius, and if you are unfamiliar with his work, this is a fine place to start. I’m sure as time goes on I’ll review more of his oeuvre, but for now, if you enjoyed this I also recommend “Wild Strawberries” and “Seventh Seal”. “Persona” is my favorite film of all time, but that a film that I’d wait until you were more acquainted with Bergman to watch. “The Virgin Spring” is incredible, and Criterion’s transfer is breathtaking. There’s never been a better time to watch this film.
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