The Virgin Spring (1960) on Netflix
Töre and Märeta send their daughter Karin to carry candles to a distant church, with Ingeri, the pregnant servant who envies her and prays to Odin. In the forest the two part.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb8.0/1034,156 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
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Plot summary
Prosperous, devout farmers in medieval Sweden, Töre and Märeta dote on Karin, their only surviving child. When the day comes for candles to be carried to the church in the nearest village, Karin asks to wear her Sunday best and to have Ingeri, the household's pregnant maidservant, ride with her. Ingeri worships Odin in secret and is envious of Karin, and she prays against her. At a mill beside a stream the two part company: Ingeri, frightened, will go no further, and Karin rides on through the forest, where she meets three goatherds, two men and a boy, and offers to share her food with them.
Cast
- Ove Porathas Boy Goat Herder
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Virgin Spring (1960)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- In the United States, The Virgin Spring was censored for its New York City opening on 14 November 1960 to remove shots of Karin's naked legs around the body of the rapist, and in Fort Worth, Texas, it was banned as obscene, with the Texas Supreme Court declining to hear the case.
- Svensk Filmindustri required Ingmar Bergman to make a comedy before it would agree to produce The Virgin Spring, and the comedy he made instead became The Devil's Eye.
- By the time The Virgin Spring began production, Ingmar Bergman's relationship with his usual cinematographer Gunnar Fischer was strained by Bergman's abrasiveness; when Fischer found another project, Bergman replaced him with Sven Nykvist, who became his regular collaborator.
- The Virgin Spring won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, marking the first time Ingmar Bergman won the award, and it was also entered in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.
- Ingmar Bergman first read about the legend of Per Töre, who had seven daughters who fell victim to seven rapists, as a student, and felt it was ideal for adaptation.
- The film was a major influence on two film makers: the Taiwanese director Ang Lee and the American film maker Wes Craven.
