When we think of Ingmar Bergman's cinema, people often think of The Seventh Seal, Persona, or Autumn Sonata films. However, my favorite film may be The Virgin Spring film. When we examine Bergman's cinema, it is the inner journeys that have influenced Tarkovsky the most. This style, which is called poetic cinema, tells you through a sigh more subjective realities rather than a linear film narrative. Why do I like films with this poetic narrative so much? Because I think this is the film in which Bergman tells something about himself and even talks about himself the most. A cursory examination of Begman's films reveals that he is in a reckoning with God. In The Winter Light and The Seventh Seal, we see people doubting the biggest truths they have believed in all their lives. But Virgin Spring approaches it from a very different angle.

Narrative from the 12th century

Ingmar Bergman, who wrote the screenplays of almost all his films himself, entrusted the screenwriting of this film to Ulla Isaksson. However, the script of this film is not completely original either. As it was adapted from an old Scandinavian ballad ‘Töres döttrar i Wänge.’. To briefly talk about what the film is about. The film tells the story of Swedish society, which is trying to move away from pagan beliefs and gradually transition to Christian customs. Karin, the daughter of our main character Töre, sets out to leave her virgin candles to the church, but on the way she is raped and killed by the children of 3 shepherds. Afterwards, this trio unknowingly takes refuge in Töre's house. And at this point we see Töre's struggle between revenge and religion.

When analyzing the script, if it is necessary to go curtain by curtain, it is first necessary to mention a few characters. The film opens with Ingeri, one of the servant girls in the house, praying to Odin. Ingeri is an important character for the film because she is the most obvious reminder of the old pagan Sweden. While everyone else has embraced the teachings of Christianity, she is still looking to Odin and the pagan faith for help. Karin's mother, Märeta, appears as a character who is fully committed to Christianity.

In the rest of the film, when Karin sets off for the church, she asks Ingeri to come with her because she has never been outside the house and the lands of the Töre before. No matter how sincere Karin tries to be towards Ingeri, she is secretly jealous of her. Even after the opening scene of the film, we see a clear sign of Norse mythology in the scene where Ingeri puts the frog she caught between the bread while preparing provisions for Karin. During the rest of the journey, they see a strange man in a hut in the forest, and it is at this point that Ingeri becomes evil and does not want to continue the journey with Karin and stays in the hut. There are two issues at this point. One is that Ingeri sensed that something bad had happened to Karin, so she watched her continue on her way without saying anything.

The other is that the man in the hut, with his demeanor and discourse, gives us the impression of Odin, the greatest god of Norse mythology. After all these scenes, Karin meets three shepherds; two of them are adults and one is a child. We see throughout the film that their older brother treats the child very badly. At first Karin was very friendly to them as she was to everyone; she shared her food, but just as she took out the bread, the frog jumped out of the bread to the ground. And right after this scene, two big brothers attacked Karin and killed her. Then they took the valuable pieces off her and ran away.

The dilemma of the new Christian former pagan

At the end of the film, they accidentally take shelter in Töre's house. Töre and his family treat them warmly, offering food and a place to sleep. One of the older brothers gave Märeta his daughter's clothes as a thank you, as if they were his own sister's clothes. This was how she realized that her daughters, who were already late and had not been seen for several days, had been killed. At this point, Ingeri also returns home and tells Töre everything that had happened. The climax of the film took place precisely in this scene, with the new religion of Töre preaching forgiveness and the old faith of Töre preaching the sanctity of revenge.

Trapped between faith and anger, the character goes to the room where the shepherds stay and kills the two big brothers. However, he cannot control his anger and kills the little boy by throwing him against the wall. But the boy had not done anything to his daughter; he had even covered the soil on Karin. This child, who had been tormented by his brothers all his life, had become a victim of Töre's anger. At the end of the film, we see two different approaches. When he goes to Karin, Töre angrily asks God why he allowed all this and then says that he will build a stone church here. And from the place where Karin lies, we see that a new water miraculously forms and a spring emerges.

Erik Bergman and Ingmar Bergman

For Ingmar Bergman, faith has always been something that has been questioned. Perhaps this also includes his strained relationship with his father, who was a priest, and his oppressive structure. When we look at his other films, we see characters who doubt and question what they believe in their lives in both the Winter Light film and the Seventh Seal film. However, in this film, it is a complete mystery whether the narrative is on the Christian side or on the pagan side. Because in the film we encounter narratives such as Nordic figures Odin, Freyja, and even Hugin and Munin.

On the other hand, at the end of the film, the final scene is associated with the sanctity of water, which we know in Christianity. For these reasons, the narrative of this film from Bergman's point of view may appear as a reproachful and symbolic narrative of his father and his questioning about the belief in God through his representation, perhaps his religious belief and the love of the creator against the love of the father he could not see.