GOTTA SEE IT # 17 - "THE VIRGIN SPRING"

“THE VIRGIN SPRING”

Starring: Max Von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitta Pettersson, Axel Duberg, Tor Isedal, Allan Edwall, Ave Porath, Axel Slangus, Gudrun Brost, Oscar Ljung.
Written by: Ulla Isaksson
Directed by: Ingmar Bergman
B & W – 1960
89 mins
Sweden

I’m not a Bergman fan. I wanted to get that out of the way right off the bat. Now, as to TVS - yes it’s a Bergman film starring Max Von Sydow and shot by Sven Nykvist and it’s terrific. But, I’m still not a Bergman fan. Got that?

Based on an old Swedish ballad, TVS is a sad, harrowing and ultimately moving piece of religious filmmaking. Set in 14th century Sweden, it concerns a religious ritual wherein a virgin is tasked to take candles to church for Easter mass. The virgin, Karin - sweet and spoiled daughter of Tore (Max Von Sydow) and Mareta (Birgitta Valberg) - pleads with her too pliant mother to let her skip the ritual this year. Her mother would oblige her, but stern Tore simply will not allow it. So, off she goes with her polar opposite - pregnant, disgrace servant Ingeri - by her side. Though at its’ core a simple tale of revenge, TVS also aims its’ arrows at jealousy, religious superstition and guilt on its’ way to becoming a Christ-like story of martyrdom, redemption and resurrection.

Karin is the point of focus for every other character in the film - from her mother, who smothers her with love and lets her dictate to her instead of the other way around, to jealous, disgraced, and very pregnant servant girl Ingeri who sees through Karin’s "purity" to the self-absorbed, spoiled and flirty girl within. Envious of Karin’s stature and looks, Ingeri is so consumed that, in an intense and memorable opening scene, she calls on Odin - the Pagan Norse God of wisdom and war - to come to her aid.

There are many interesting things at work here, not the least of which is Karin’s supposed virginity. Her parents think she is a virgin. At one point, her mother, after having had a bad dream, suggests that another girl bring the candles to church, but Tore reminds her that a virgin must be the one to make the journey. Yet, Karin isn’t as pure as she puts on - maybe not even a virgin at all. During their long trek to the church, Ingeri confronts Karin about seeing her with the man by whom she was impregnated. Ingeri suggests that Karin’s behaviour was not becoming of a virgin. Did she have sex with the man? It’s not entirely clear, yet, one could come to that conclusion. Whether she has or hasn’t, clearly, the idealization of the virgin as a role model for all unmarried women - lifting them up on this pedestal of purity - is the mistake that leads to everything else that follows. Without it, you have no ritual, no trek and none of the consequences of that trek. You also don’t have the rejection and punishment of Ingeri, whose jealousy of Karin would also cease to exist. It’s the ultimate irony that, all of the corrosive thoughts and tragic actions in this story are born out of the worshipping of the virgin and the idealization of Karin as the embodiment of this icon of virtue. When all is said and done - purity begets tragedy.

The acting is first rate, with Von Sydow stealing the show as the proud and towering figure of the father. It is not difficult to see how he made the jump from Swedish star to International sensation. He is equal parts cheery, stoic and ruthless. He’s a man at once in control and out of control. His final “conversation” with God is a stirring scene of great sadness, anger and determination.

So often I come away from Bergman films unmoved, bored or indifferent. Whether this is his fault, my fault or a combination of the two, I cannot say. In this instance though, in a story of a tragedy piled on a tragedy, with sadness so palpable that a simple snowfall, timed to perfection, left me in awe. It’s little wonder, then, that this Bergman film made me, at least for 89 minutes, a true fan.