The Virgin Spring (1959) Reviews

"Virgin Spring" is an all time classic to be sure and no comment I can offer would do justice to this landmark work by Bergman. But this new release from Criterion has an amazing interview with Ang lee, Director of "Breakback Mountain," and his comments on the power and effect of this movie on him at 18 yrs old as a student is not to be missed in the special features. In short Lee credits Bergman with showing him that is was possible to make serious art in cinematic form.
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This is one of my least favorite Bergman films. The presentation is extremely bare: the cinematography is predictably good and the quality of acting is at times jarring, but compared to his other films the dialog is sparse and seems to expose a creeping feeling I have: the themes are rather shallow and blunt. A film like The Seventh Seal manages to portray a more dynamic world and series of events with extensive, clever, and circmstantial dialog. Without this, a more secular and rational audience will be left rather bored by Bergman's quandaries in Virgin Spring. The morality is obtuse, not in the way that makes it ambiguous, but in the way that makes me stop caring. In the end we're left with the sad picture of a man crying out in anger to his god, a man that will never get an answer. But the problem is, he does get an answer and so I gag a bit and can't help but think it's all a little silly.
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Wow! What a movie! I saw Last house on the left, which used this as a model; and this movie is 100 times better. Alternately sad and beautiful at the same time. I was engrossed through the whole film. I just wish it didn't end so suddenly. There could have been so much more!!!!!! 5 stars plus!!!! Incredible acting!!!!!
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