The virgin spring
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The virgin spring |
| Original title | Jungfrukällan |
| Country of production | Sweden |
| original language | Swedish |
| Publishing year | 1960 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 (formerly 18) |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ingmar Bergman |
| script | Ulla Isaksson |
| production | Allan Ekelund |
| music | Erik Nordgren |
| camera | Sven Nykvist |
| cut | Oscar Rosander |
| occupation | |
| |
| synchronization | |
The Virgin Spring (Original title: The Virgin ) is a in black and white twisted Swedish film drama by Ingmar Bergman from the year 1960 . The medieval ballad Töres dotter i Wänge served as a template .
action
Sweden in the Middle Ages: Karin, the young daughter of a wealthy farmer, wants to travel to the village with her adoptive sister Ingeri to bring Mary candles to church. On the way the two separate because Ingeri is afraid of crossing the forest, and Karin travels on alone. In a clearing the girl meets three shepherds. The eldest of the three brothers tells Karin about their alleged plight and gets them to rest with them and share their travel provisions with them. The two older brothers rape and kill Karin.
The shepherds move on and unsuspectingly ask for a night asylum in the house of the parents of the murdered. When they offer Karin's mother's clothes for sale, she realizes the situation. She notifies her husband, who locks the shepherds' bedroom and visits Ingeri. Ingeri tearfully confesses that out of jealousy she called on her pagan gods to kill Karin and did not intervene to help, even though she witnessed the crime. The father searches the shepherds' luggage and finds other items from Karin's possession.
The next morning the father confronts the shepherds with Karin's belongings. He kills the brothers in the ensuing fight, including the youngest among them, a boy of about twelve. Ingeri leads the parents to the scene of the crime. The father turns to God in despair, why he allowed Karin's murder as well as his bloody vengeance. Then he vows to build a church in that place. When Karin's body is lifted, a spring rises from the ground. Ingeri washes her hands and face with the water.
background
Production and film launch
The Virgins Spring was created in the spring and summer of 1959 in the Dalarna province . The screenplay was written by Ulla Isaksson , who worked with Bergman for the second time after Nahe am Leben (1958).
The film was released without cuts by the Swedish censors , a decision criticized by the daily Svenska Dagbladet . It opened in Sweden on February 8, 1960 and in German cinemas on September 9 of the same year .
Despite an unabridged approval by the voluntary self-regulation of the film industry and the rating "valuable" by the film evaluation office , Die Jungfrauenquelle was confiscated as "indecent" by the Munich District Court because of the explicit rape scene. The decision was later revoked and the film could also be shown in full in Bavaria .
Position in Bergman's work
After The Seventh Seal (1957), Die Jungfrauenquelle was Bergman's second - and last - film set in the Middle Ages. It was also the first of a total of three Bergman films to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film , followed by Wie in einer Spiegel (1961) and Fanny and Alexander (1982).
In retrospect, Bergman discovered scenes of "great vitality" in the film, but expressed disparagingly about the idea of allowing the main characters to experience a kind of healing through the planned construction of the church: "spiritual bungling [...] swindle" (Bergman).
Reviews
“Sparingly in words, with virtuosity in the picture, the film tells an old legend. [...] At the time, the film from Bergman's creative period, criticized for its realistic representation, dealt with existential and religious questions on the basis of Christianity. "
Awards
- Oscar 1961 for Best Foreign Language Film
- Golden Globe 1961 for Best Foreign Language Film
- Kinema Jumpō Prize 1962: Awards for "Best Foreign Language Film" and "Best Foreign Language Director"
Aftermath
The 1972 US exploitation film The Last House on the Left took up motifs from Bergman's film.
Web links
- The Virgin Spring in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The Source of Virgins in the Swedish Film Institute's database, accessed July 11, 2012.
- ↑ The Jungfrauenquelle on the website of the Ingmar Bergman Foundation , accessed on August 7, 2012.
- ^ A b Hauke Lange-Fuchs: Ingmar Bergman: His films - his life, Heyne, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-453-02622-5 , pp. 143–152 u. 289
- ↑ a b The source of virgins in the lexicon of international films .
- ↑ Magus from Norden in Der Spiegel No. 44/1960 of October 26, 1960, p. 70 ff.
- ^ Stig Björkman, Torsten Manns, Jonas Sima: Bergman on Bergman, Fischer, Frankfurt 1987, ISBN 3-596-24478-1 , p. 56.
- ↑ Let go of the carnage , article on Der Spiegel Online from May 14, 2009, accessed on July 11, 2012.