This is my very first Ingmar Bergman film, I think. I know, I know, how could it have taken me this long to get to a film-maker as influential as Bergman? I'd never been exposed to it until I started reading about film on my own. My mother loves classic American movies but she never had the patience for subtitles so we didn't watch a lot of foreign films growing up. The point is that I watch them now.I heard about The Virgin Spring on a horror blog. Last House on the Left is a less arthouse remake of the same plot. Whenever possible, I like to watch the original influence first so I added it to my queue. An eternity later, it arrived and I watched it on Sunday.
In medieval Sweden, the daughter (Birgitta Pettersson) of a wealthy landowner (Max von Sydow) is on her way to deliver candles to church when she is raped and murdered by three bandits. The bandits unknowingly seek shelter for the night at the girl's house, where they inadvertently reveal their misdeed by trying to sell the daughter's dress to her mother (Birgitta Valberg). The parents must then decide what to do with the men.
Despite being over 40 years old, this movie retains a lot of power. I liked the use of symbolism and the juxtaposition of Christianity and paganism. I wasn't expecting that angle but it was welcome. I'm not going to now say that I'm a huge Bergman fan, after only seeing one film, but I am looking forward to when I get The Seventh Seal, probably around 2017 at this rate.
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