The Virgin Spring

The Virgin Spring

1960 · 90 min · SV · 7.8 (695 votes)
Dir. Ingmar Bergman · Starring Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitta Pettersson, Axel Düberg, Allan Edwall · Music Erik Nordgren

“Ravished innocence... brings terrible revenge!”

DramaHistory

Devout Christians Töre and Märeta send their only daughter, the virginal Karin, and their foster daughter, the unrepentant Ingeri, to deliver candles to a distant church. On their way through the woods, the girls encounter a group of savage goat herders who brutally rape and murder Karin as Ingeri remains hidden. When the killers unwittingly seek refuge in the farmhouse of Töre and Märeta, Töre plots a fitting revenge.

VIBE

This is a stark, emotionally devastating journey into the darkest corners of human nature and divine reckoning. It feels ancient and raw, a meditation on faith, vengeance, and the profound weight of moral choices. The atmosphere is relentlessly somber, yet imbued with a haunting, almost spiritual, beauty.

bleaksomberbrutalmorally complexhauntingtranscendentslow-burnstark black-and-whitemedieval realismexistential dramaarthouserevengefaithmoralitygriefjustice
▶ Stream on Criterion Channel
rapebrotherpeasantchild murderrevengepregnant womanmedievalrape and revenge13th centuryspring (water)
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