The Virgin Spring: Bergman in Transition
By January 23, 2006
Ingmar Bergman was enjoying one of the happiest spells of his life while making The Virgin Spring (1960). On a personal level, he was felicitously ensconced Read more »
- Sweden
- 1960
- 89 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.33:1
- Swedish
SYNOPSIS: 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. Starring frequent Bergman collaborator and screen icon Max von Sydow, the film is both beautiful and cruel in its depiction of a world teetering between paganism and Christianity, and of one father’s need to avenge the death of a child.
Cast & CreditsOpen
Cast
| Töre | Max von Sydow |
| Märeta | Birgitta Valberg |
| Ingeri | Gunnel Lindblom |
| Karin | Birgitta Pettersson |
| The boy | Ove Porath |
| The herdsmen | Axel Düberg |
| The herdsmen | Tor Isedal |
Credits
| Director | Ingmar Bergman |
| Screenplay | Ulla Isaksson |
| Cinematography | Sven Nykvist |
| Editing | Oscar Rosander |
| Producer | Ingmar Bergman |
| Music | Erik Nordgren |
| Production design | P.A. Lundgren |
| Costume design | Marik Vos |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary by Ingmar Bergman scholar Birgitta Steene
- New video interviews with actresses Gunnel Lindblom and Birgitta Pettersson
- Introduction by filmmaker Ang Lee
- An audio recording of a 1975 American Film Institute seminar by Bergman
- Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- A 28-page booklet featuring essays by film scholar Peter Cowie and screenwriter Ulla Isaksson, the medieval ballad on which the film is based, and a letter from Bergman on the film’s controversial rape scene
