The Virgin Spring

The Virgin Spring

Directed by Ingmar Bergman • 1960 • Sweden
Starring Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom

Winner of the Academy Award for best foreign-language film, Ingmar Bergman’s THE VIRGIN SPRING is a harrowing tale of faith, revenge, and savagery in medieval Sweden. With austere simplicity, the director tells the story of the rape and murder of the virgin Karin, and her father Töre’s ruthless pursuit of vengeance against the three killers. Starring Max von Sydow and photographed by the brilliant Sven Nykvist, the film is both beautiful and cruel in its depiction of a world teetering between paganism and Christianity.

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The Virgin Spring
  • The Virgin Spring

    Directed by Ingmar Bergman • 1960 • Sweden
    Starring Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom

    Winner of the Academy Award for best foreign-language film, Ingmar Bergman’s THE VIRGIN SPRING is a harrowing tale of faith, revenge, and savagery in medieval Sweden. With austere simplicity, the...

Extras

  • THE VIRGIN SPRING Commentary

    Recorded exclusively for The Criterion Collection, in 2005, this commentary features Birgitta Steene, professor emerita in cinema studies and Scandinavian literature at the University of Washington, and the author of Ingmar Bergman: A Reference Guide (2005).

  • Ang Lee

    Director Ang Lee (THE ICE STORM, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN) cites THE VIRGIN SPRING as the first art film he saw and one that had a huge impact on him. The following introduction was recorded in October 2005. (Please note: this interview reveals key plot points.)

  • Gunnel Lindblom and Birgitta Pettersson

    In these interviews, conducted in Stockholm in August 2005, actors Gunnel Lindblom and Birgitta Pettersson reflect on working with director Ingmar Bergman and their experiences making THE VIRGIN SPRING.

  • Bill Hader on THE VIRGIN SPRING

  • Ingmar Bergman at AFI

    Director Ingmar Bergman was invited to speak at the American Film Institute, in Los Angeles, on October 31, 1975, as part of the Harold Lloyd Master Seminars. Presented here is edited version of that seminar.