The Virgin SpringFaith is a test, one which challenges us with more than rituals and inconveniences, but with our intrinsic understanding of right and wrong. Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring is loosely adapted from a 13th Century ballad--titled "Töre's daughters in Vänge"--and tells the tale of the rape and murder of a young, virginal girl by a couple of goatherds on her way to the church to deliver some candles. But more than this, it also deals with her converted Christian family, and how they handle the knowledge that their daughter is dead, and what kind of vengeance must be administered in recompense.
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Set in the Middle Ages, The Virgin Spring explores the early introduction of Christianity into Scandinavia, which was also struggling with the attachment to the old gods as well as the new. Tore (Max von Sydow) is the head of the family, who appears to have begrudgingly accepted the conversion at the behest of his fervent wife, Mareta (Birgitta Valberg). Mareta engages in penance in observance of Christ's suffering, which Tore does not understand. He does, however honor her interests and plays along, until his faith is put to the ultimate test. The servant girl Ingeri (Gunnel Lindblom) is cynical and pregnant, an outsider in the family because of her apparent wantonness, but also because she remains a steadfast worshiper of Odin. Tore and Mareta's ill-fated daugher Karin (Birgitta Pettersson) is kind, yet spoiled; she is proud of her virtue, and naive to a fault. Whether Karin is truly devoted or if she finds the pageantry more to her liking is questionable, but she and her family clearly have a strong bond. An early scene devoted to her mother dressing her and brushing her hair might have little to do with the overall plot of the story, but adds dimension as it illuminates that her life is real, her family life is very recognizable, and when the horrible violation takes place, it is all the more shocking since we have come to see Karin as a real girl, and not just a victim to suffer this assault. Ingeri's spite leads her to wish ill--or maybe invoke a prayer--upon Karin, jealous and hurt that the sweet Christian girl gets the extra attention just because she is a virgin. When Ingeri visits the hut along the river there is a sense that the old, pagan ways are embodied by a sense of violence, of anger, of darkness--as it is with Tore in his ritual preparation and execution of his revenge. Whatever witchcraft it might be, both Ingeri and Tore reconsider their faith in light of the undesired consequences of their prayers--for Ingeri, what happens to Karin...for Tore, what he does to the young boy goatherd.
When the goatherds (rather foolishly) seek shelter in Tore's homestead, the young one's behavior arouses suspicion, which in turn leads to a violent altercation, which in turn reveals to Mareta crucial information about Karin's fate. Although Mareta seems to be the consummate Christian, she too expects some kind of retribution, and is the first to lock in the defilers. Tore's ritual to prepare himself for the bloody work ahead of him is to flagellate himself with birch branches amid a hot bath, get armored up, and grab a ceremonial-looking butcher's knife. The choice of a butcher's knife seems apt, since Tore no longer sees these rapists and murderers as men, but as animals in need of putting down. Tore's ritual appears foreign, and shows more pagan roots than Christian, which represents that Tore believes that his wife's god has failed them in protecting Karin, so he turns to the old gods of his fathers to imbue him with the strength of vengeance. Regretfully, whatever superhuman force empowers Tore also prohibits his ability to show restraint, as he exacts revenge upon the young boy who had no part in Karin's death and felt horribly ashamed by the whole affair. Tore's struggle of faith leads right up to the end, when he rails against the unjust God for watching on passively as Karin was raped and murdered. Tore may not understand his new god, but he does swear to honor his daughter's faith by promising to build a church in her memory upon the site of her death. Even after his revenge, he begs forgiveness from God, aware that he has also spilled blood as these men had, understanding the gravity of his actions. The heart rending tale of innocence stolen and unsatisfying revenge makes for a moral tale, but one which embraces that people possess varied faiths...and though we may not understand God, sometimes it is enough to simply ask for forgiveness.
Recommended for: Fans of a tragic tale of a young girl who is martyred by the selfish, avenged by her father in a crisis of faith. It is a tale full of deep emotion and big questions about love, about faith, and also about family.
When the goatherds (rather foolishly) seek shelter in Tore's homestead, the young one's behavior arouses suspicion, which in turn leads to a violent altercation, which in turn reveals to Mareta crucial information about Karin's fate. Although Mareta seems to be the consummate Christian, she too expects some kind of retribution, and is the first to lock in the defilers. Tore's ritual to prepare himself for the bloody work ahead of him is to flagellate himself with birch branches amid a hot bath, get armored up, and grab a ceremonial-looking butcher's knife. The choice of a butcher's knife seems apt, since Tore no longer sees these rapists and murderers as men, but as animals in need of putting down. Tore's ritual appears foreign, and shows more pagan roots than Christian, which represents that Tore believes that his wife's god has failed them in protecting Karin, so he turns to the old gods of his fathers to imbue him with the strength of vengeance. Regretfully, whatever superhuman force empowers Tore also prohibits his ability to show restraint, as he exacts revenge upon the young boy who had no part in Karin's death and felt horribly ashamed by the whole affair. Tore's struggle of faith leads right up to the end, when he rails against the unjust God for watching on passively as Karin was raped and murdered. Tore may not understand his new god, but he does swear to honor his daughter's faith by promising to build a church in her memory upon the site of her death. Even after his revenge, he begs forgiveness from God, aware that he has also spilled blood as these men had, understanding the gravity of his actions. The heart rending tale of innocence stolen and unsatisfying revenge makes for a moral tale, but one which embraces that people possess varied faiths...and though we may not understand God, sometimes it is enough to simply ask for forgiveness.
Recommended for: Fans of a tragic tale of a young girl who is martyred by the selfish, avenged by her father in a crisis of faith. It is a tale full of deep emotion and big questions about love, about faith, and also about family.