The Virgin Spring

They should have picked the Motel 6

1960

Review: May 9, 2008

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Starring: Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitta Pettersson

If you like, it’ll help you be stunned by the stunning photography.

THE SETUP:

Adored daughter is raped and murdered. That night, the rapists seek shelter I her parents’ home.

DISCUSSION:

This appeared on my radar upon hearing that Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left is a remake of it, and I became curious about how an Ingmar Bergman film gets translated into a Wes Craven film. This is not because I’m such a fan of the Craven film, as I rented it once and ended up turning it off, because it seemed like it was going to just be so much meaningless violence. And besides, watching Bergman films is good for you, like Grape Nuts. Besides, Bergman films are high in antioxidants.

We begin with a title informing us that this is adapted from a 13th century ballad, which is helpful to know, because it sure seems like it. We see this young woman with wild eyes and crazy black hair preparing a stew. She is obviously a bit on the troubled side, and we note that she is pregnant. This is Ingridi, who is the daughter of the father from a previous marriage [or something], and everyone regards her as a slut and an ingrate and a bad influence on the darling Karin, the family’s daughter. She calls on Odin—apparently [I read this later] one of the threads we’re supposed to get here is the transition between pagan beliefs and Christianity. Then we see Karin’s mother and father, Mareta and Tore [but with umlauts], at church. Mareta stays and starts pouring hot wax on herself, and Tore chides her for doing too much penance. We also notice Tore has a gun.

So they decide that Karin has to take the candles to the church, which only she can do because it has to be done by a virgin. Mareta says that Karin is sick, but it seems that she was out late dancing the night before [yeah, Twilo], and is just tired. Meanwhile, hateful little Ingridi is sent to make a lunch for her, and makes her a toad sandwich! I like this Ingridi girl. Mareta wakes Karin and it’s obvious in just a few that Karin knows that she’s beautiful and adorable [but in a charming way, she’s not—that—obnoxious], and her mother is nuts about her. Tore is much more strict, but he also melts upon Karin turning on the charm, and holds her up and bounces her. Yes, it’s somewhat erotic, but tastefully so, and if you know what’s going to happen [which the back of any video box/Netflix envelope is happy to describe for you] it fits and helps color in their relationship.

SPOILERS > > >
So Karin goes, and insists that Ingridi come with her, since she never gets away from the house, which is going to make for some awkward moments when someone discovers their amphibian lunch special. So they set off, and at a certain point Ingridi freaks and refuses to go further. She stays with this creepy old dude and, amusingly, Karin offers Ingridi her sandwich to eat! She refuses it, Karin walks on, and there’s a strange little scene in the cottage of this creepy old man who seems to be some sort of pagan witch, as he starts pulling out these dried snakes and human fingers and saying that they can get rid of Ingridi’s pregnancy. Then he makes to rape her, and she goes running off into the woods.

So Karin is going along when she falls in with these two herdsmen and a young boy. They are initially charming to her, and she shares her sandwich with them, which had me tense about when they were going to eat the toad, but it seems that she had another sandwich. Anyway, things start to get a little threatening, and Karin realizes she’s in big trouble. She gets violently raped [it is quite violent and long without showing any nudity]. Now something interesting happens: the guys seem to feel somewhat stricken by what they’ve done, which is compounded by Karin’s wailing in true horror as she walks aimlessly back and forth. One of them, seemingly driven crazy by how awful her wailing makes him feel, bludgeons her, killing her. This is all my interpretation; there is no dialogue, but I would stand by it. Soon the highly symbolic snow starts, and the screen fades out.

In the very next scene [no waiting!] the three fellas show up at Tore’s house. It is winter and they have nowhere to sleep. He offers them dinner and shelter, which they accept. It seems that at least the young boy recognizes almost instantly who they are, and I assumed that the others did as well. I also thought that perhaps it was months later, as in the winter had settled into the area, but no, it’s actually the very night that Karin took off, and has not yet returned. One of the killers has a long speech about how the boy should be cool and not be afraid, also implying to me that the herdsmen knew whose house they were in. I mention all this because it doesn’t seem to jibe with what happens next.

Mareta is in bed with Tore, worried sick over Karin. Mareta says, repeatedly, “She’s all I have,” which I don’t think is going to lead to improved marital relations. Then there’s a disturbance, and Mareta goes to check on their guests. One herdsman offers to sell her the dress that Karin was wearing [quite a big deal was made about this dress before Karin took off], which causes Mareta to just stand staring at it. She says she’ll have to ask her husband, and takes it to him. But before she does this, she takes the time to lift a heavy bar, sealing the door.

Tore is aflame with rage, and says he must first bar the door, locking the men in—which is what Mareta already did! So she’s no innocent wallflower.

Long story short, he kills them all. There is what I suppose was suspense back in 1960, although I found myself fast-forwarding through it. The quick, pleasureless nature of the killings makes it clear that Bergman is not interested in us feeling some sort of vicarious violence against the herdsmen, but just that we think about what it all means. I think it’s supposed to show Tore’s rage that he even kills the boy, who didn’t have a direct hand in killing anyone. Life’s unkind, toots!

In the morning the entire household goes out to find the body, which they do, and then we have some anguished mourning, and when they pick up Karin’s body, a spring of water comes up right where she was. The virgin spring, get it? Water from this spring is now available in 20-ounce bottles, or large jugs suitable for home or office. Tore vows to God that he’s going to build a church right on that very spot with his bare hands, and I’m like “Dude, you’re upset. I wouldn’t make any rash promises just now.” I also think we’re supposed to sense Tore’s conversion to Christianity by the end. Then it’s over.
< < < SPOILERS END

It was good. It’s good to know it’s a 13th century ballad right up front, as that sort of sets the context and gives you an idea what you can expect from the story structure. The photography is stunning and the compositions are quite striking, and the whole thing seems weighted with symbolism, which gives you something to ponder over. However, I must admit that by the last third I was finding the entire thing somewhat tedious. I guess mostly it's because I knew what was going to happen—and exactly that happens and nothing more—but also because I had started to get tired of the whole uber-serious vibe and the way the direction is just dithering—oh sorry, creating suspense—for such long periods.

It’s very good, you should watch it, and in terms of my psyche I feel like I just ate a big plate full of steamed spinach. In terms of movie enjoyment, however, yeah, I feel like I just ate a big plate full of steamed spinach.

SHOULD YOU WATCH IT?

I suppose.