Virgin Spring

ClassicBob · #1 06-06-2006, 04:54 AM

I'm a burgeoning filmie, but I don't have the writing talent or desire to post a full review right now, so I'm posting this in order to start a discussion about this film.

Tonight, I watched Ingmar Bergman's "Virgin Spring." This film doesn't get as much pub as other Bergman films such as "The Seventh Seal," "Wild Strawberries," or "Persona," but it's pretty much flawless.

The plot is rather simplistic, It is essentially a story of a Christian family in the Middle Ages, and the conflicts between the burgeoning Christian faith and the paganism still ruling at the time. We meet the family patriarch (a fantastic Max von Sydow), his extremely Christian wife, their virginal daughter Karin, and their pagan foster daughter, Ingeri. On the way to deliver candles for Mass, tragedy strikes Karin, and the rest of the picture covers the aftermath.

If revealing more plot points make for a better discussion, I'll attach a spoiler to the title. For now, I'll just say that this is one of the better films I've seen in a long time, and I highly recommend it.

MidGe · #2 06-06-2006, 05:42 AM

Heya ClassicBob,

You hit a strong memory here. The Virgin Spring was the first Bergman I saw. It did make me realise the possibility of aesthetics in movies. A gem, imo.

diebitter · #3 06-06-2006, 08:58 AM

*** SPOILERS ***

Yes, this is my second favourite Bergman, after the little-seen 'Summer Interlude' (imdb says this was called 'illicit interlude' in the US), with 'Seventh Seal' coming up a my third. I haven't seen Summer Interlude in 20 years though, and only remember how much I liked it and very little about it, so I could be off a bit on that [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

The Virgin Spring is a wonderful movie, which uses it black-and-white + shading to powerful effect. He also uses stretches of silence and the actors to extraordinary effect - so much so, you can't tell if it's his eye for composition/capturing the actors or the actors' abilities that make this movie so extraordinary.

It's touching and horrible all mixed in one. When you see the anger in the dark-haired daughter's heart vs the innocent (though maybe a little brash) nature of the blonde daughter, it is extremely striking. The rape scene is pretty awful to watch after we've got to know this mostly sweet-natured girl go about her business, and you hate the men that do it. More shocking still is the revenge taken out by the father against the the men and the boy (who only looked on) - it's extremely disturbing - in fact I nearly included this movie in my 'top pre-1970 horrors' list I did a while back, but decided it didn't quite match the genre.

I'm pretty sure this is one of the truest filmic accounts of a grieving parent driven beyond all reason.

It could also be considered an allegory about paganism being forced to move in the face of oncoming Christianity, but that makes it sound clumsy - this film is the diametric opposite of clumsy.

It went on to inspire the infamous (and frankly dumb, offensive and just plain bad) 'Last House on the Left'.

What can I say? Grim, beautiful, and heart-breaking. Definitely worth your time. 4.25/5 on my scale.

MidGe · #4 06-06-2006, 09:05 AM

diebitter,

Whoa: "top pre-1970 horrors". It must have had a similar impact to what it had to me. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
I never forgot Bergman after that.

econophile · #5 06-06-2006, 09:45 AM

I saw Virgin Spring a couple months ago and Last House on the Left a few weeks ago.

The Criterion Collection edition of Virgin Spring had a lot of cool extras, including audio from a lecture Bergman gave about directing movies. Unforunately I didn't have time to look at all the extra features before returning the disc.

LittleOldLady · #6 06-06-2006, 08:24 PM

I saw Virgin Spring many years ago, and I am sorry to say that I laughed all the way through it. I was studying Icelandic at the time (I was a grad student), and the film is so full of saga cliches that I was literally muttering the dialogue before the actors did. It was rather like going to an old time western and saying, "Meanwhile back at the ranch" and "They went thattaway" just before the actors did. And, yes, the cliches in the Virgin Spring were on that level. Obviously my reaction was dependent on the fact that I had just spent the year reading sagas. Maybe I should see the film again....

katyseagull · #7 06-06-2006, 08:35 PM

Wow this thread is weird. ClassicBob says the film is virtually flawless, diebitter says he almost included it in his pre-1970s horror list, and LittleOldLady laughed all the way through it. I wasn't actually wanting to watch Bergman but I'm getting a little curious. How do you get your hands on a copy of something this old anyway?

ClassicBob · #8 06-06-2006, 10:16 PM

katy,

It is available on DVD, released by the Criterion Collection.

diebitter · #9 06-07-2006, 03:00 PM

[ QUOTE ]
katy,

It is available on DVD, released by the Criterion Collection.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you'll like it a lot, Peg.

Peter666 · #10 06-08-2006, 09:04 AM

An underrated Bergman classic. Purposely symbolic with a wonderful ending conveying Medieval faith. Note how different it is from the faith of modern people in other Bergman films such as "Through a Glass Darkly".

You have to be really jaded to be laughing through the movie, especially during its darker aspects. I may be out of the loop, but is Medieval tapestry considered hilarious these days?