Review of The Virgin Spring (1960) by S L — 07 Dec 2009

"Töre's daughter in Vänge deep.

Did one morning too long sleep;.

Mass she missed, she slept it thro'.

But God will surely bless her too.".

The Virgin Spring, a film adaptation of a 13th century Swedish ballad, is probably one of the most severe films you will ever watch. Bergman characteristically allows the morality in the film to become appropriately murky, and the film's faith is not for him an easy thing; the world portrayed is, as we expect 13th century Sweden was, unremittingly brutal. Taking place during a time when Northmen were uncomfortably making peace with the new religion of their land, the film is as much pagan as Christian, and inasmuch as it is the latter, it is of an agonized sort.

The film's portrayals of violence, while not explicit, are more emotionally distressing than what many viewers will be accustomed to. This is because we have a psychologist behind the lens, and the Virgin Spring also benefits from being the first in a long and fruitful collaboration between Bergman and cinematographer Sven Nykvist. Composition, lighting, movement, and montage carry meaning in addition to exhibiting great beauty. Unlike Wes Craven's (terrible) first film The Last House on the Left, which appropriates the skeleton of this film's narrative, the filmmakers here do not allow the Virgin Spring to descend into a petty and sick revenge fantasy. The family's torment registers on screen, a feat only a master can pull off with such success, and yet we are not left with a sense of justice attained.

We are left, I suppose, with what Max von Sydow's character Töre is left with: God's silence, the lonely brutality of the film's medieval setting, the uncertainty of salvation, and the basic ethical question, how should one live? From a simple medieval parable, the filmmakers have constructed a masterpiece, which I suppose is what one expects when a handful of geniuses decide they're going to make a movie together.