The Virgin Spring (1960)

 Ingmar Bergman's "The Virgin Spring"


I have watched many of Ingmar Bergman's films up until 1960 and I've got to say that his 1960 film "The Virgin Spring" is by far his most brutal. The film delves into themes regarding belief, vengeance, and the absence (or presence) of God. Although many of Bergman's films deal with dark subject matter, none have dealt with it so unflinchingly. So much so that the film was banned in many places upon its release.

The film is set in medieval Sweden, where a prosperous Christian ranger sends his daughter off to deliver candles to the church. After the brutal rape and murder of the daughter Karin by a group of three herdsman, the herdsman wander onto the family farm to ask for work. After discovering one of Karin's garments with the travelers, the father decides to enact vengeance upon them, even killing an innocent child in the process. After feeling guilty of his son, he locates the body of his daughter and decides to dedicate the site to a church. Just then, a spring springs forth.

The scenes of rape, brutality, and vengeance are so stark that it compelled me into utter silence. It is a film full of the upmost bleakness. While the film deals in religious belief and faith, the unholy images that disrupt our senses make the religious belief throughout the film rendered null. In the final moments, when the Max von Sydow character collapses in sorrow and says to God, "I don't understand you," I felt it truly in my heart. I felt the complete absence of God. 

For this reason, I find "The Virgin Spring" to be Bergman's darkest and bleakest film up until this point in his career. The film was even censored or banned in many places. At the premiere in Stockholm, 15 audience members walked out of the screening. In the US, the rape scene was heavily censored and even some places like Fort Worth, Texas, the film was banned completely. It is safe to say that Bergman ruffled some feathers. This makes sense given that Bergman was beginning to let completely loose with his bleaker and more nihilistic works, as his following works like "Through a Glass Darkly," "Winter Light," and "The Silence" shows Bergman at his most spiritual destitute. 



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