The Virgin Spring - Criterion Collection

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Made in 1960 and set in medieval Sweden, Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring is based on a folk ballad. It also examines a society in transition from Norse pantheism to Christianity. The film starkly contrasts Ingeri--a dark, feral, Odin-worshipping foster daughter to a Christian family headed by Max Von Sydow--and their own daughter, a pretty and blond but also vain and naïve girl named Karin, whom Ingeri resents. They travel out together to a distant church where Karin is to offer votive candles to the Virgin Mary. However, en route, Karin is raped and murdered by two desperate goatherds, accompanied by a 13-year-old boy. By coincidence, the goatherds then seek refuge with Karin's parents and even try to sell them her clothes, which proves to be a mortal error.

Bergman was greatly influenced by Akira Kurosawa when he made The Virgin Spring, as evinced in its ominous use of dark and shade and lengthy sequences without dialogue. However, this is more than pastiche. Although the Christian ending with which Bergman feels obliged to conclude the film doesn't quite sit well in a movie in which God is as palpably absent as in any Bergman movie, the slow, remorseless pace of the murder and subsequent retribution bring to mind Krzysztof Kieslowski's A Short Film About Killing in their sense of the futility of vengeance. --David Stubbs

Customer Reviews:

Masterwork, short and...well..........2007-08-19

Yes, you can definitely see Kurosawa's influence reigning over this Bergman film--a kind of, Bergman does "Rashomon"--at least, visually--full of primal angst, man against man, man against woman, woman against woman, woman against society, father against child,, husband against wife, man against God--the whole arena in a tight little structure--with the force of Bergman's own vision filling out the tremulous daylight and the grim shadowed night. This could only ever be a black and white film.

I had one problem with it which I never fully resolved in my viewing (besides sometimes not being able to read the subtitles fast enough): the premise that any medieval father with so much love for his daughter could allow her to so simply go off on a long trek basically on her own--actually, insisting that she do so-- except this particular time, accompanied only by a woman no one trusted, and rightly so. The naive, young (how old is she anyway? teenager?), attractive, virgin daughter travels on horseback through a dark forest--and in fine apparel, no less--bypassing lecherous, creepy older men--practically trolls--and the suggestion is, that she's done this on many other occasions, attracting the attention of all the men of the area, some courting and some near-assaulting her. And spending the night in town sometimes! With who? Hey, who's more naive? The daughter or the father? Dad naive? Maybe blind would be more accurate. Perhaps, that's the whole tragedy of the story.

The only way I got myself over that implausible setup is to recognize how much this is a fairy tale--this is the sometimes-told, gruesome version of Red Ridinghood in which grandma gets eaten viciously and the rescuing woodsman savagely hacks away at the wolf finding parts of grandma inside. Young, naive women in dark forests alone--the substance of folklore--and this time, the grim Grimm's.

I've just started my viewing of Bergman's oeuvre. First with Seventh Seal, and now this one. Seem like good movies to start with. Black and white, stark, with the themes bold and pronounced over the shady landscape, and Bergman's touch much more than simply apparent. It's wonderful to spend time with real directorial genius again.

I absolutely loved the very short scene with Sydow tearing down the birch tree in this one. What a great image. Look forward to it!

Excuse me, but I have to ask some of the other reviewers, including the professionals, is there a reason to tell the whole story in your reviews? Don't you realize that, for a lot of us, that spoils one of the most significant pleasures of watching a film? It's greatly unwelcome. The best reviews always avoid doing that. It's really, at all times, unnecessary. If you feel the need to tell the whole story, write a book about it, not a review. This is not an after-viewing group discussion board. It's a place where people come to see if the movie's worth watching, worth purchasing, not to find out how it ends.

Atypical Bergman is among his best films.......2007-08-17

Not a typical film from recently deceased Swedish director Ingmar Bergman - and maybe that is the reason why I liked this movie so much, and why is not so well regarded among Bergman fans. Set in Medieval Sweden, the story is inspired by a 13th century ballad and is refreshingly simple: On her way to church, a beautiful young girl is raped and killed by two desperate shepherds, accompanied by a 13 year old boy. Unfortunately for them, they would later take shelter in the home of the girl's father (Max von Sydow, in a fine performance). When he learns they are her daughter's killers, he will take justice by his own hands, killing them as well as the innocent boy. In the place where the girl was murdered, a spring miraculously appears. The movie is oddly catholic (in Francoist Spain, this film was shown in churches), yet is moving, beautifully shot in black and white, unpretentious and straightforward.

Another Live-the-review masterpiece by the Patriarch!.......2007-08-02

Okay everyone, Patriarch here. Last time I tried the Live-the-Review style of reviewing it met with disastrous results. That time I reviewed Last House on The Left. This time I've picked a much different film. I found this movie at Barnes and Noble in the Foreign/Art film section I wanted something completely different then the horror of LHotL. Okay and for you that don't know, in this review style I speak from the POV of the main character. Okay time to go.

Here goes-lights, action, camera!

Okay the movies starting now. There's tons of words in a foreign language that I don't understand. This is the credits I guess. There is relaxing music playing. Okay now what, some dirty woman blowing on fire.

Now the Patriarch always assumes that the first person he sees in a movie is the main character, so like last time I am a girl for the sake of the review. I'm going to hold off just a little longer though to make sure.

Okay she is just walking around and NOTHING IS HAPPENING. Okay now some people are praying to Jesus. A man and a woman. The man is very manly so I take it that he is the main character.

Never mind that now a woman is talking to chicks. Ok I admit it, I have no idea who I am supposed to be. She talks to that first girl I saw and she is giving her the business.

Now it's all women walking around and talking to each other. You know, nobody so far has struck me with the kind of charisma it takes to be a main character. The man is back now but he's just eating.

Okay I am going to look this up on the Internet and find out who the main character is because this review so far has made about as much sense as the movie has.

Okay, I'm back now. It turns out I am asleep in bed right now. No not the real me, the movie me. My name is Karin and, once again, for the sake of this review I am a gal.

SO for the sake of the review I have to skip past this beginning part and get to the part where I enter the movie because if I am not in that part of the movie how do I know it is happening?

Ok so now I, Karin, a pretty blonde girl am laying in bed. I'm arguing with my mother because she wants me to go to church, but I've got to catch up on my Zs.

Ok, the idea that I can wear my favorite outfit to church has convinced me to go. Now my mom is combing my hair, and she like, could care less that she is pulling my hair out because there are knots and she's just tugging away. I seem very spoiled.

Okay long story short I am leaving on horseback with that dirty girl from the beginning. I'm singing now how sweet. This seems like a pleasant movie so far because nothing really happens. It's like someone just filmed a random day in my life.

The dirty girl and I are talking now.

I'm sorry. I'm going to leave out a lot of what I just did, because mostly it was talking. The dirty girl is now yelling at me. I think the dirty girl wants to turn back. I possess no fear however and am like, let's get to church already. I leave the dirty girl behind because, she has been a thorn in my side since we left.

I'm gonna be late for matins dammit!

Alright, the dirty girl is talking to some man now, but I don't know that, I'm far away on my horse. I'm riding along and I meet some friendly herdsmen. You know what, it's pretty bad when your day has been so dull that herdsmen are actually worth mentioning.

I am so lonely and bored by this point that I take the herdsmen to a clearing and share my lunch with them.

I cannot frickin believe this. I am getting raped by the herdsmen. This came out of nowhere. At least they are quick. Well, I'm raped now and I am like in total shock. I am just walking around sobbing and I have no idea what I am doing. The only people I can go to get help from are the herdsmen, but something tells me they won't be any help.

Okay they just hit me over the head with a club. Beautiful, thanks a lot guys. Why not just kick me when I'm down. Alright so they've hit me over the head pretty hard and I am dead. That's it. The perfect way to end the most boring day of my life. I'm raped and killed.

Okay I'm out of character now. This is ridiculous, I just finished reviewing LHotL where, as you know, I was raped and killed. Now, once again, I'm raped and killed. And just like last time, the movie's only halfway over! What is with movies nowadays? I wish I knew what happened in the second half of the movie, but I have to turn it off because when you die the movie's over, you don't know how everything is resolved.

Patriarch signing off.

PS I don't think I am going to do this kind of review again. Things just aren't working out.

PPS-why 5 stars? Because I lived it and anything I live is certainly worthy of 5 stars. Yeah, I am that important.

Powerful simplicity.......2007-04-10

*** 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.

Creepy!.......2007-04-09

I saw this film after finding out that Last House On the Left was based on it so I was curious. It seems like every few years I rent LHOTL forgetting which film it was because they package it cleverly to look like something with a much bigger budget. I end up watching it again and it creeps the hell out of me every time. Part of it is because they inadvertantly nail that early 70's drugged out and willing to do anything evil Manson Family kind of culture to a T. I was fascinated by the idea of the same story in 12 or 13th century Sweden. I watched it once and it does have an eerieness of it's own and the style is unforgettable. At first I though it was good but not great but then I found myself wanting to put myself through it again. It is not as graphic as LHOTL - even with the infamous rape scene... so it doesn't have that horrific Faces of Death feel to it like the remake does. I am not going to bother to talk about the storyline since so many others here have... but I wanted to tell people that are watching it via LHOTL that they will be fascinated by it.

Average customer rating:

Wow This Movie.
Just a fun movie
DEADLY HEADLINES

A Killing Spring
Starring: Wendy Crewson , Shawn Doyle , Michael Ontkean , Zachery Ty Bryan , and Sherry Miller
Director: Stephen Williams
Manufacturer: Mti Home Video
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ASIN: B0000VV4EK
Release Date: 2004-01-20

Product Description

When the Dean of Journalism at Lanholme College is found dead, former cop turned crime reporter, Joanne Kilbourn, is pulled into the world of academic competitiveness and ruthless ambition where everyone-students, professors and the Dean's wife-all become suspects.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

Wow This Movie........2007-04-03

This movie kept you wonderding what the heck was really going on. The only part I did not like in this movie, was Michael Ontkean at the end of the movie, well you'll have to watch it to find out, then you will know what I mean. I'm an Ontkean fan!

Just a fun movie.......2006-06-24

I did find this movie fun to watch. I think Shawn Doyle did a great job. His expressions during certain scenes took me by surprise, he is good! This is a great popcorn movie.
Just watch it for fun. Do not expect too much from this movie.

DEADLY HEADLINES.......2005-02-09

A KILLING SPRING is one of three Canadian TV movies featuring talented Wendy Crewson (The Doctor, The Santa Clause movies) as a college instructor who used to be a cop. In this case, the victim is a college dean, who has been having romantic affairs with both students and other faculty's wives. There are tons of suspects, seems like everyone wanted the poor fellow dead. Those suspects include an ambitious, bitchy journalism student who wants the prestigious news award, claiming she has a very hot story to tell; her rival, a young stud who works as a mechanic with his dad, and who could certainly use the award to jumpstart his career; the assistant dean, whose wife is one of the dean's conquests; the drug-addled wife of the victim who knew what her hubby was up to; the list goes on. Director Stephen Williams keeps the pace interesting, and Crewson is a likeable heroine. Shawn Doyle as the acerbic hunky cop does well; Zachery Ty Bryan plays the wannabe newscaster well; and Michael Ontkean turns up as a novelist whose best selling novel is propelling him to fame, and into Crewson's bed.
All in all, reminiscent of the style of MURDER SHE WROTE, a little more mature in presentation, though.

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