Review of The Virgin Spring (1960) by Tom B — 11 Apr 2010
Can you say VIKINGS? Watched this last week, making a quick comment in-between on overdose of Flight Of The Conchords. This is one of our favorite viking movies. This is one of the few viking movies in the world.
It's a damn good movie! It's not a funny movie. But it is definitely a viking movie. Ensconced between a dialectical juxtaposition of pagan vs. Christian symbolism is a taut story beautifully photographed by Sven Nykvist.
Von Sydow is iconic in his portrayal of a stricken farmer bent on revenge against the men who murdered his daughter. We love the details, the authentic farm, built on high ground, the pagan rituals and inscriptions, the servant girl praying to Odin, von Sydow's stunning performance as he prostrates himself before the always-silent Christan God.
Bergman seems in this one to have balanced his interest in mystical beliefs in opposition to Christian certainty. Here the beliefs in the old Gods yield darkness and crime linked to carnal excess, the very energy the Christians were tamping down.
In some respects the argument is simplified as we are dealing with a tragic crime. What is apparent is God's silence, or at least the hint towards it that would figure more strongly in the coming decade of Bergman's filmmaking.
Silent or not, human excess seems in need of reigning in. Curious that Bergman is at the same time so apparently resistant to other aspects of Christian worship. It's almost as if he's tossed the baby out with the bathwater.
In this film the story is more concrete, set in the past, based on an ancient ballad, almost a recreation in its historical accuracy. The more introspective explorations were to come. A perfect double bill with Seventh Seal.
This review of The Virgin Spring (1960) was written by Tom B on 11 Apr 2010.
The Virgin Spring has generally received very positive reviews.
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