page_title: The Virgin Spring
section_title: Themes
hierarchical_section_title: The Virgin Spring / Themes
caption_attribution_description: Captioned as "Odin disguised as a Traveller".
context_page_description: The Virgin Spring is a 1960 Swedish rape and revenge film directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in medieval Sweden, it is a tale about a father's merciless response to the rape and murder of his young daughter. The story was adapted by screenwriter Ulla Isaksson from a 13th-century Swedish ballad, "Töres döttrar i Wänge". Bergman researched the legend of Per Töre with an eye to an adaptation, considering an opera before deciding on a film version. Given criticism of the historical accuracy of his 1957 film The Seventh Seal, he also invited Isaksson to write the screenplay. Other influences included the 1950 Japanese film Rashomon. Max von Sydow played Töre.
  Isaksson and Bergman explored a number of themes in The Virgin Spring, questioning morals, vengeance, and religious beliefs. The rape scene was also subject to censorship in screenings in the United States.
  The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1961 Academy Awards and other honours. It was also the basis for the 1972 exploitation horror film The Last House on the Left.
context_section_description: A variety of themes explored in the film include Christianity, Paganism, Norse mythology, feelings of guilt, vengeance, the questioning of religious faith and sexual innocence. All of the characters struggle with feelings of guilt, Ingeri for praying to Odin and standing by during the murder, Märeta for disliking Töre and wanting to be Karin's favourite parent, and Töre for killing the boy and possible feelings of incest towards Karin.
  Much of the religious themes centre on conflict between paganism and Christianity, recalling the misery Sweden experienced as the two religions struggled for predominance. In the film, paganism is associated with magic spells, envy and revenge. In a possible interpretation, Odin in this film becomes synonymous with the Devil. As with The Seventh Seal, Bergman relies on the emotions and inner conflicts of his characters to represent spiritual crisis. Töre, played by Max von Sydow, loses his Christian values to commit the act of revenge, and offers to build a church as redemption. Film scholar Marc Gervais elaborated that Töre's revenge is "ritualized pagan vengeance", adding "Töre is torn between two ritualized imperatives: pagan vengeance, Christian repentance and forgiveness". Gervais commented on how it compared to William Shakespeare's Macbeth in its themes of "embracing the dark forces, succumbing to evil, and being overwhelmed by conscience".
  Consistent with fairy tales, Karin and Ingeri are presented as opposites, Karin as an innocent virgin who always appears clean and in fine clothing. In contrast, Ingeri is dirty, dark in complexion, rides a darker horse, and her pregnancy indicates compromised innocence. The rape scene represents Karin losing her innocence, with her appearance after being disordered.
  Screenwriter Ulla Isaksson viewed the spring as symbolizing Karin's innocence. Ingeri uses it to wash her head, which she used to plan the spell, and her eyes, which she used to watch the rape, and drinks the water, symbolizing absolution. Critic Peter Cowie tied the spring in with Ingeri's fire in the opening and streams seen throughout the film as representing "The pagan significance of fire, earth, and water".
caption: The Norse god Odin is prominent in the film's themes.
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