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Jungfrukällan (1960) More at IMDb Pro »

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26 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
Masterpiece., 14 November 2004
9/10
Author: Snake-666 from England

Legendary Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman's probable precursor to Wes Craven's notorious 1972 shocker 'The Last House on the Left' is a far more compelling and emotionally draining film that adroitly and continuously switches the viewers sentiments up until the despondent, tranquil and haunting ending. While one minute the viewer is laughing along with the youthful, if naïve, exuberance of the young Karin (Birgitta Petterssen), the following minute will encourage different emotions as Bergman plunges the viewer into the middle of a nightmarish crime perpetrated by nothing less than the evil inside man. Although the portrayals of the acts committed in 'The Virgin Spring' are far less graphic than the modern viewer may have become accustomed to, they still retain an immense power to horrify as one cannot ignore the great lengths Bergman has gone to in order to give his characters a base in order to harden the impact of what we see. With just the simplest of dialogue, the viewer continues to learn about the relationships and personalities of each of the characters so that we may appreciate the consequences and, in some ways, forgive the actions that we see. This film is, after all, a tale of morality and repentance and therefore, even while in some cases the actions may be evil, it is necessary to accept the goodness that is still there. This thought is made no clearer than during the solemn and subdued final scene which fades out abruptly and leaves the viewer in a state of quiet reflection.

Bergman's pacing and subtle direction which at one point leaves the viewer in suspense for what seems like an eternity is surely the reason for the greatness of this film. As if he were playing chess, he manipulates not only the characters, but the emotions of the viewers with intelligent and surprising maneuvers while pressing home his own sentiments regarding the story so that we may at least take into great consideration the events that we have seen. Bergman has an amazing ability to flip the atmosphere of a movie in a split second using various lighting and camera angle techniques as well as motivating his performers to follow suit. The simple expression changes on the faces of Birgitta Petterssen, Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg and Gunnel Lindblom at various points throughout the film quickly alter the mindset of the viewer and indicate that all is not well; so beautiful in undeniable simplicity.

'The Virgin Spring' is nothing short of a masterpiece and a film that few will be able to forget. 9½/10

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22 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
Moving Masterpiece, 21 April 2000
9/10
Author: Merely from Brocktroit, Massatucky

Brilliant, tragic, heartfelt story that will move all who see it...and it certainly is a must for anyone serious about film. I originally wanted to see it because I admire the work of Max von Sydow. Acting, directing, story, cinematography simply flawless. Haunting and superb.

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17 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
She was wrong, 29 July 2000
Author: Gary

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Pauline Kael (who she? They cry in unison) denounced this stunning film as revolting and the subject matter is harrowing and explicit for it's day. Just because it is, doesn't mean the story, although a legend; is not worth telling. The murdered girl is just like a dear friend of mine so it's particularly distressing to sit through. I can see where Tarkovsky got his floating pollen from, or maybe both he and Bergman were influenced by Dreyer. Great scenes include the guilty boy staring up at the stars while a grandfather torments him with a speech about conscience and the cruelty of the heavens, and Sydow's stabbing of one of his daughter's killers. It happens unsparingly in front of the camera, and is absolutely searing and indelibly imprints itself upon the memory, as it shows the slow, hard reality of taking a man's life from him. Sydow is also superlative after he has killed the child and stares down at his hands, unable to reconcile them as being his own. He brilliantly conveys a man who expected to be rewarded for his virtuous life in service of the lord and his bitterness over God's perceived betrayal. Or is it about betraying ones self?

Bergman admitted that the ending with the spring was somewhat tacked on and over didactic, even bogus, as he had already said what he had wanted to say on the matter of religion in previous films and that the matter was 'closed' in his mind to a certain extent. Perhaps this is why Kael questioned whether the film really needed to exist. I can't answer that one but it is a film of authority and power which makes you question what you would do in similar circumstances, and how you might reconcile your actions with your faith. Leaving aside the religious issue, which Bergman does appear to be half hearted about, it unquestionably sides itself with the need for forgiveness and the moral duty to do good. Recommended, and great performances.

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13 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
A fine, grim, little tale that will make you ponder afterwards., 19 September 2005
10/10
Author: rowan_h from Taiwan

I have to agree with the previous comment, this is certainly a sad film I would go further, it's actually a grim little tale. Bergman pulls no punches, the medaeval world he shows is a hard, harsh, bleak place. There is a sense of menace in almost every scene and the actual rape is graphic and nearly unwatchable. The characters are not finely drawn, but after all this is a fairy tale in the older mould. They are there to represent types and conditions. The sad, doting mother; the unbending Christian gentleman; the flawed cleric; the ferocious, deceitful rapist-murderers. The tale on one level is very simple and can be simply followed; jealous sister curses more favoured sister, favoured sister is cruelly killed, killers ironically claim refuge of her father, father exacts revenge on them. So far we have something that could have come out of many a European ballad tradition. However, on another level it contains fundamental comments on humanity and human behaviour, Christian moral theology and our reaction to it. The father's faith is tested, he is not the man he thinks he is and his religion is not what he thinks it is either, though he submits and adopts a position of blind hope. The killers represent the complete absence of good that Aquinas maintained was the definition of evil. The young brother is the pain of conscience. In many ways it is a play on the deadly sins, apart from gluttony they are all there; wrath on the part of the father and pride in his daughter; envy in the half-sister; lust and avarice in the herdsmen and so on. It is truly an exemplary tale, as a medaeval legend should be. I bought this film casually at a street stall in Taipei for an absurdly small amount of money and it lay on a shelf unwatched for quite some time. In a bored moment one night I slipped it in the player and found myself enthralled until the finish. The cinematography, of course, is excellent but the joy is the dark threat that filigrees it, the simple but powerful emotions both quietly and violently displayed. It lacks the grandeur of "The Seventh Seal". It's a smaller and more compact number but it some ways the better for it, the evocations are more direct and the violence unnerving. I recommend it very highly indeed, you will be thinking on its themes long after this simple little tale finishes.

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17 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the most heartbreaking films I have ever seen, 15 February 2004
10/10
Author: BlueGreen from Somewhere in Europe

... and that's about all I can SAY about it. I saw this film four, maybe five years ago. 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. It is a raw, uncompromising, unbiased parable on love and revenge; on humanity. Brutal. Heartrending. Unforgettable.

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Powerful simplicity, 8 January 2006
10/10
Author: Galina from Virginia, USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Based on the 14th - century Swedish legend, "Virgin Spring" is a moving and haunting tragic story about a young girl who was raped and killed while on the journey to the church. The killers unknowingly asked for the shelter at her parents' house... One of three was a young boy who only watched the crime.

Max von Sydow gives one of his best performances as an outraged father. Ingmar Bergman and his genius cinematographer Swen Nykwist reconstructed the medieval world full of realities and life, stunningly beautiful and deadly dangerous in the same time. Certainly a masterpiece and one of my favorite Bergman's films after the repeat viewing. Powerful simplicity.

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13 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Experienced Rather Than Watched, 21 February 2003
Author: postmanwhoalwaysringstwice from usa

Sometimes Bergman's films, though full-fledged masterpieces (I AM NOT DISCREDITING HIM), are visual expressions seen with the screen as a wall between the viewer and the characters. I think that wall was taken down with "The Virgin Spring". Here he tells an emotionally intense story at the perfect pace with perfect pitch. No matter how horrific the occurrences on the screen, this film has been created with such an aesthetically appealing touch that the dichotomies and balance Bergman works towards is evident. Terrific!

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10 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
The most heartbreaking movie I have ever seen, 8 July 2003
10/10
Author: kanerazor from Yorba Linda, CA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This small film may not be as ambitious as Bergman's more renowned The Seventh Seal, but I have seen so many movies from throughout history and I have seen very very few that affected me so deeply. It is such a simple story, but Bergman's direction makes it a film that stays with viewers forever.

The opening shot of the frightening Ingeri is chilling. We don't know anything yet about any of the characters or the story, yet this is still scary, because of the dark lighting and the actress's brilliant mannerisms. Ingeri clearly looks possessed, and when we find out later that she placed a horrifying curse on Karin it makes sense. The use of lighting and imagery throughout the movie is incredible. When Karin was first introduced, I immediately fell in love with her. She was so gentle, and so caring, and looked like an angel, especially with the way shots of her were lit. She invites Ingeri to go to the church with her, because Ingeri doesn't get to go out much.

This review contains spoilers: When the story reaches the woods, Karin's sweet, innocent nature is further established when she gives much of her food to the swineherds and gives them company. Knowing what was going to happen made this scene unbearably tense, and of course that gets much worse when Karin realizes their intention and tries to escape, but is cornered and then falls over a branch and is left vulnerable. The camera cuts away, but next we see the men, after having laid her on the ground, lifting up her legs and spreading them apart. That's certainly not graphic compared to some things we see nowadays, but I found it devastating to watch because it was Karin, such a beautiful girl who deserved nothing of this sort. While Karin is getting raped, we see Ingeri across the river, holding a stone at first but then letting it fall and simply watching contentedly as Karin continues to get violated. With all the sincere kindness Karin has show Ingeri, the hatred she receives in return is absolutely appalling.

Then we see Karin get up after the rape, and her dirty tear stroked face is such an awful contrast to the smiling picture of beauty we saw earlier. As if taking away her purity wasn't enough, one of the men picks up a huge stick and strikes a fatal blow to her head, and then they steal her dress. Bergman's mise-en-scene throughout this scene is outstanding.

Later after Tore finds out the truth about his guests, the scene with him preparing for his bloody revenge will scare even the most jaded viewer. The mise-en-scene is once again amazing during the murders, especially the use of the fire. After he is subdued by his horror at his own rage, I was moved by Mareta's quietly saying "Let us go find Karin".

Karin's dead unclothed body, with her eyes chewed out by buzzards, is one of the most unforgettable images in a movie absolutely packed with them. When Tore picked up the body, and the spring magically appeared, it put a bittersweet smile on my face, as though God was saying everything would be okay. The final shot with Tore asking God for forgiveness as he had the body of his only child was moving beyond words. I've read criticism of the ending, as some feel the spring didn't belong and it was not like Bergman to include something affirming a belief in God like that. If it had not been there, the film would have been that much more cryptic, but I feel it was incredible either way. I actually woke up in the middle of the night after I watched this movie, recalling images after that rape and thinking "I can't believe those monsters did something so horrible to such an innocent young girl" but then I reminded myself that the film is teaching us not to be full of hate and vengeance. I compared the rape images to the one of Tore murdering that young boy. Wes Craven's horrible remake Last House on the Left used the tagline "Keep telling yourself 'It's only a movie'", but this is the film that needs that tagline. I had to tell myself that to keep from being depressed.

This one movie is enough to show why Ingmar Bergman is considered a filmmaking immortal.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
the virgin spring, 30 January 2006
9/10
Author: dav07dan02 from spokane,usa

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Director: Igmar Bergman, Script: Ulla Isaksson, Cast: Max Von Sydow (Tore), Birgitta Valberg (Mareta), Gunnel Lindblom (Ingeri), Brigitta Pettersson (Karin), Axel Duberg (herdsman), Tor Isedal(mute herdsman), Ove Porath (boy)

Midieval tale about a wealthy Sweedish family. They send their privileged and rather spoiled daughter on a journey to the church to deliver candles as an offering for the virgin mother. Her less fortunate pregnant step sister is asked to go along. While on their journey, the step sister develops a fear of the forest and also complains of being sick. Karin,the privileged daughter, has her stay with a hermit in the forest while she continues the journey alone. Along the way she runs into a three goatherds,two man and a young boy who are brothers. They complain of being hungry due to their long journey so out of kindness, she offers to picnic with them in which she shares her bread with them. The two man proceed to rape her and then kill her while the young boy watches helpless. Her step sister had left the cabin where she was staying and witnessed the whole thing but did nothing to help Karin. By chance, the three brothers turn up at Karin's parents farm. The herdsman tries to sell Karin's valuable garments that they had removed from her to her mother. This leads the father to take revenge on the herdsman.

This is a film I would strongly recommend to anyone especially lovers of classic cinema. The only other Bergman film I have seen is The Seventh Seal which is also outstanding. This film was extremely troubling to me not only because of the brutal act but also because Karin did not deserve this. We have a young innocent naive girl whose trust was betrayed. In this film we see the dynamics of these two sisters. Karin was privileged and spoiled by her parents especially her mother. Her father is more stern but she is still able to break him down with her charm. The step sister is of a much lower stature. She works as a servant and farm hand while Karin doesn't have to do any work. As a result, the step sister has a strong resentment toward Karin. Unlike the Cinderella storey, Karin is very kind to Ingeri, her step sister. She is also very concerned for her as a result of her being pregnant. When she comes across the herdsman, being from the wealthy upper class, she could have easily blown them off but instead she spends time with them and offers them her food only to get violated and murdered in return. In actuality, seeing three men(while two men and a boy) in the forest should have caused her to run away.

As an example of her gullibility, right before she is about to be raped, the men say things like "what white hands you have" and she replies buy saying something to the likes of "because a princess never has to work" then they proceed by saying "What a lovely neck you have" while sitting very close to her. She than says something to the likes of (I am going to be way off here!) "how else can a lovely princes wear her bracelets". She then goes on to tell them about their farm and her well to do life. She is not saying all this in a stuck up way trying to brag. Again she is a very naive girl who has lived like a princes. She expects the men to share her enthusiasm! The step sister did not do anything possibly out of resentment to her step sister or it could have been out of fear. When the herdsman arrive at Karin's parents farm and her father finds out what they have done to Karin, he kills them including the boy. This is another very tragic part of the movie. Like Karin, the boy was also innocent. He had nothing to do with the rape and murder of Karin. One could argue that he could have stopped his brothers instead of just watching. In reality, their is absolutely nothing he could have done. His older brothers are grown men while he is just a small boy. As a matter of fact, they physically abuse him. Not only is the boy a victim like Karin but he is also an outcast like Ingeri, the step sister. He is treated bad by his brothers and Ingeri is treated bad by her family although not by Karin. After Tore,the father, kills the two man and goes after the boy, he runs to Mareta, the mother, for protection. She tries to protect him from Tore but is unable to do so and the father proceeds to kill him.

Tore immediately feels remorse for what he had done. The parents and farm hands go to find Karin's body led by Ingeri. When Mareta lifts Karins body from the ground, a spring arises from the site. Tore vows to God to build a church there.

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16 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
Do not watch this film unless you are prepared to withstand some powerful blows to the gut, 11 February 2001
10/10
Author: zetes from Saint Paul, MN

Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring is one of the most unpleasant films to watch that I have seen. The narrative is quite simplistic, but it is a very multilayered film when it comes to interpretation. In fact, like a lot of his films, I am not sure I understood everything that was said. For instance, I am not sure what exactly was being said about Christianity or religion in general in this film. It ends quite pro-Christian, where one would expect a Bergman film to be ambiguous about this subject. I must contemplate it further, but, also like his other films, I never expect to understand it fully. Thus, I could theoretically watch all of his films as many times as possible and I would still get something from them. Anyway, I would just like to say that, if you are a Bergman enthusiast, you have to see this film. Just be prepared to feel sick during your viewing. 10/10

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