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Virgin Spring, the
 
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Virgin Spring, the

Format: VHS Tape
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Amazon.com Essential Video

Made in 1960 and set in medieval Sweden, Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring is based on a folk ballad. It also examines a society in transition from Norse pantheism to Christianity. The film starkly contrasts Ingeri--a dark, feral, Odin-worshipping foster daughter to a Christian family headed by Max Von Sydow--and their own daughter, a pretty and blond but also vain and naïve girl named Karin, whom Ingeri resents. They travel out together to a distant church where Karin is to offer votive candles to the Virgin Mary. However, en route, Karin is raped and murdered by two desperate goatherds, accompanied by a 13-year-old boy. By coincidence, the goatherds then seek refuge with Karin's parents and even try to sell them her clothes, which proves to be a mortal error.

Bergman was greatly influenced by Akira Kurosawa when he made The Virgin Spring, as evinced in its ominous use of dark and shade and lengthy sequences without dialogue. However, this is more than pastiche. Although the Christian ending with which Bergman feels obliged to conclude the film doesn't quite sit well in a movie in which God is as palpably absent as in any Bergman movie, the slow, remorseless pace of the murder and subsequent retribution bring to mind Krzysztof Kieslowski's A Short Film About Killing in their sense of the futility of vengeance. --David Stubbs

Video Details

When a devout young girl is raped and killed by herders, her father is consumed by a violent need for vengeance. Based on medieval legend, The Virgin Spring exposes a society on the cusp between mysticism and Christianity and explores the power of reconciliation. Bergman won his first Oscar® for this exquisitely composed film.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite of Bergman's work from the 1950s, April 18 2012
By 
K. Gordon - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Virgin Spring (Criterion Collection) (DVD)
My favorite of the pre 1960 Bergman films, this has (once again)
amazing photography by Sven Nykvest. It also boasts one of Max Von
Sydow's most powerful performances - which is saying a lot.

Set in a medieval world like 'The Seventh Seal', but here the questions
of guilt, god, right and wrong are simpler and less symbolic, and to me
ring truer and more emotional.

Not that the film doesn't have it's fair share of symbolism. This is
still Bergman. But those symbolic gestures feel more a part of a larger
story. instead of the point.

Some of the supporting performances aren't quite up to Von Sydow's and
a couple of key moments felt a bit contrived, but this is a very tense,
intense, disturbing and emotional look at one family from another time
dealing with issues that are still all too familiar. Indeed there's
almost a feeling of horror film about it at moments, and it is,
amazingly, sighted as the uncredited basis for Wes Craven's 'The Last
House on the Left'!
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5.0 out of 5 stars A Must See Experience, Mar 24 2004
By 
10za "10za" (Alpharetta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Virgin Spring, the (VHS Tape)
Great photography!
Great Acting!
Great Story!

You will find yourself lost in this story about a father's revenge. The actors never let you think for a minute that you are not watching an actual film of medieval times.

There are a couple of very violent and disturbing scenes that are necessary for the story. All the lead actors are great. I especially liked the performance of the pregnant brunet girl who is jealous of Karin.

The filming makes you feel as if you are recalling a long forgotten memory or dream. Don't pass up the chance to see this film.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Max Von Sydow & Ingmar Bergman at Their Best., Sep 17 2001
By 
"vjer5" (VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Virgin Spring, the (VHS Tape)
This is the only foreign movie to win an Academy Award. Its in stark black and white during Medieval times. Lots of Pagan imagery.
Max comes across as the Norse god Odin full of vengeance. He's
down right scary when he goes after the 3 who raped and murdered his beautiful daughter.
You won't be able to take your eyes off that scene, or the rest of the movie for that matter.
This movie is an A+
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