Jungfrukällan (1960)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ulla Isaksson (writer)

Release Date:

14 November 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Set in beautiful 14th century Sweden, it is the sombre, powerful fable of peasant parents whose daughter...

Plot Keywords:

Stepsister | Revenge | Shelter | Farm | Rape

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Max von Sydow	...	Töre
Birgitta Valberg	...	Märeta
Gunnel Lindblom	...	Ingeri
Birgitta Pettersson	...	Karin
Axel Düberg	...	Thin Herdsman
Tor Isedal	...	Mute Herdsman
Allan Edwall	...	Beggar
Ove Porath	...	Boy
Axel Slangus	...	Bridge Keeper
Gudrun Brost	...	Frida
Oscar Ljung	...	Simon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tor Borong	...	Farm-hand
Leif Forstenberg	...	Farm-hand

Also Known As:

The Virgin Spring

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:(Banned) (1960) | Finland:K-18 (1966) | South Korea:15 | Norway:16 (1960) (cut) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (re-rating) (1994) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:Unrated | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Dalarnas län, Sweden

Company:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Trivia:

Mentioned in the Van Halen song The Seventh Seal.

Quotes:

Beggar: See the smoke trembling under the roof as if with fright? Yet when it gets out in the air, it has the whole sky to swirl about in. But it doesn't know that, so it huddles and trembles in the soot under the roof. It's the same with people. They quiver like a leaf in the storm, afraid of what they know and what they don't know.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ingmar Bergman: Om liv och arbete (1998) (TV)

One of the most heartbreaking films I have ever seen

... and that's about all I can SAY about it. I saw this film four, maybe five years ago. And to this day, I feel a blow to my gut whenever I remember it. To this day, it haunts me - especially (and not surprisingly) the figure of the little boy.

This is a raw, uncompromising, unbiased parable on love and revenge; on humanity. It is set in 14th century Sweden - but its "message" is timeless: as timeless as love and vengefulness themselves. As timeless as humanity itself. Because the mores may change, but today, as 800 years ago, people are still helpless in their (perhaps inevitable) core existential ignorance, still subject to the immense pain of losing a loved one, of the inexplicable torments that often befall just and righteous, "good" people.

And that is what makes this a brutal, heartrending, unforgettable film.