Tweetienator Det sjunde inseglet/The Seventh Seal with Max von Sydow is my most favorite movie by Ingmar Bergman, Jungrukällan/The Virgin Spring the 2nd.Bergman did some movies, who I dare to say, are ageless classics because they are deep and profound meditations of human life and its relations to god and/or to the creation and of all wonderful and terrible things that are part of life (and death) and how the individual tries to cope and deal with all those challenges and questions.Again with Max von Sydow, this is a great story set in the medieval times in rural Sweden. Rape, murder, superstition, belief, revenge, are the ingredients to this outstanding dish. As far as I know the movie is based on an old legend and Bergman again tells us the story in a very reduced manner and in pictures with a quiet, poetic and meditative character.

punishmentpark I saw the 'remake' 'Last house on the left' by Wes Craven before this one, and in spite of that one having some odd comedic scenes in it, I still think it has more punch than 'Jungfrukallän'. One problem is that this film feels a bit like a play and lacks a certain rawness that 'Last house...' does have, although this does not apply when finally Töre (the father) exacts his revenge. Another problem is the ending: the choice of divine intervention (the miraculous spring that appears when the body is moved) is just not a believable one, it seems Bergman was mistaking the directing chair for the pulpit. One other thing that doesn't sit right, is that the thugs choose to knowingly offer Karin's robe to her family... such is just beyond ány reason.On the positive side, Max von Sydow and Birgitta Pettersson present us with some fairly iconic characters, and Bergman's attention to detail (for the most part) is a joy to watch.With a heavy heart, I can't go higher than 5 out of 10.

gekarlin "The Virgin Spring" is in my opinion one of the greatest Period Dramas ever made and the greatest Swedish movie ever. Beautifully shot, paced and directed it is bound to haunt anyone watching it for days. It is the second and last movie Bergman made which was set in the middle ages, and for me at least appears to be a sign of Bergman reaching closure in his struggles with his questions of life, death and the after world. Human life was cheap in the middle ages but if "The Seventh Seal" represented a positive view of mans ultimate demise, "The Virgin Spring" offers nothing but darkness. In "The Seventh Seal" no one was safe from death but in the end death came firstly to those who wanted to die (the Knights, The Blacksmith and his wife) and life to those who wanted to live (the Actors.) It was not logical but supposedly just.In "The Virgin Spring" the same premise is turned on its head. In any movie from the same period, the character of Ingeri would have been doomed. She is ugly, crude, pregnant and she is in league with a Pagan god. Usually she would have been destroyed by the force she had conjured. But this does not happen. Instead death comes to the beautiful, virginal and Christian Karin, without any reason or explanation at all. God is silent. "The Virgin Spring" is proof of what a virtuosic director Bergman was. The classic theatrical feeling of his movies is mixed with elements of Thriller, Horror, Western and Japanese "Jidai Geki". The final fight between Töre and the sheep herders is not your typical Swashbuckling, Errol Flynn fencing match. Töre wakes them up because he wants it to be a fair fight but other than that it is pure murder. Unfortunately in my opinion, Bergamn never reached this level of greatness again, more or less completely abandoning period drama. But "The Virgin Spring" stands as one of the finest moments in Swedish cinema ever.

dushyant chaturvedi i have never been impressed by Bergman's work. I found wild strawberries and the seventh seal to be good but not exceptionally great work of cinema. but this one totally blew me away. The concept was copied by Wes Craven for "last house on the left". A girl is assaulted by a group of men and then they unknowingly take asylum in her home. The father, here played with a bone chilling intensity by Max Von Sydow, take revenge. the direction is fantastic and there is not a single dull moment to be found in the movie. The dialogues are minimal and tension is escalated in many scenes due to the lack of any background score. This won the Academy Award for the best foreign movie of 1960.4 out of 5 for this terrific tale of wrong doing and revenge.