A Killing Spring

Starring:Wendy Crewson, Shawn Doyle, Michael Ontkean, Zachery Ty Bryan, Sherry Miller, John Furey, Bruce Gray, Kim Schraner, Kristen Holden-Ried, Jocelyn Snowdon, Callahan Connor, Natasha La Force, Zachary Bennett, Pamela Wallin, Jean Yoon, D'Arcy Smith, Sandi Stahlbrand, Nola Augustson, Don Francks, Moira Wylie
Director: Stephen Williams
Studio: Mti Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Made in 1960 and set in medieval Sweden, Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring is based on a folk ballad. It also examines a society in transition from Norse pantheism to Christianity. The film starkly contrasts Ingeri--a dark, feral, Odin-worshipping foster daughter to a Christian family headed by Max Von Sydow--and their own daughter, a pretty and blond but also vain and naïve girl named Karin, whom Ingeri resents. They travel out together to a distant church where Karin is to offer votive candles to the Virgin Mary. However, en route, Karin is raped and murdered by two desperate goatherds, accompanied by a 13-year-old boy. By coincidence, the goatherds then seek refuge with Karin's parents and even try to sell them her clothes, which proves to be a mortal error.

Bergman was greatly influenced by Akira Kurosawa when he made The Virgin Spring, as evinced in its ominous use of dark and shade and lengthy sequences without dialogue. However, this is more than pastiche. Although the Christian ending with which Bergman feels obliged to conclude the film doesn't quite sit well in a movie in which God is as palpably absent as in any Bergman movie, the slow, remorseless pace of the murder and subsequent retribution bring to mind Krzysztof Kieslowski's A Short Film About Killing in their sense of the futility of vengeance. --David Stubbs

Customer Reviews:

Powerful simplicity.......2007-04-10

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Based on the 14th - century Swedish legend, "Virgin Spring" is a moving and haunting tragic story about a young girl who was raped and killed while on the journey to the church. The killers unknowingly asked for the shelter at her parents' house... One of three was a young boy who only watched the crime.

Max von Sydow gives one of his best performances as an outraged father. Ingmar Bergman and his genius cinematographer Swen Nykwist reconstructed the medieval world full of realities and life, stunningly beautiful and deadly dangerous in the same time. Certainly a masterpiece and one of my favorite Bergman's films after the repeat viewing. Powerful simplicity.

Creepy!.......2007-04-09

I saw this film after finding out that Last House On the Left was based on it so I was curious. It seems like every few years I rent LHOTL forgetting which film it was because they package it cleverly to look like something with a much bigger budget. I end up watching it again and it creeps the hell out of me every time. Part of it is because they inadvertantly nail that early 70's drugged out and willing to do anything evil Manson Family kind of culture to a T. I was fascinated by the idea of the same story in 12 or 13th century Sweden. I watched it once and it does have an eerieness of it's own and the style is unforgettable. At first I though it was good but not great but then I found myself wanting to put myself through it again. It is not as graphic as LHOTL - even with the infamous rape scene... so it doesn't have that horrific Faces of Death feel to it like the remake does. I am not going to bother to talk about the storyline since so many others here have... but I wanted to tell people that are watching it via LHOTL that they will be fascinated by it.

A great Introduction to Bergman films.......2007-03-31

I am just becoming acquainted with Bergman films. This was the first one I ever saw. I liked it better than the Seventh Seal. I've also seen Wild Strawberries, which I also enjoyed. The Virgin Spring, in my opinion, is the strongest of the three.

Like someone else said in their post, I can never get tired of this film. It is remarkable how you can always find something in a film that you didn't see the first time. I think that film is beautifully crafted. It's beautiful visually and the story is very compelling.

A brief synopsis of the film: the story is set in 14th century Sweden. Sweden is in a transition from Norse pantheism to Christianity. A young girl, Karin, and her foster sister, Ingeri, set out on their way to church one day so that Karin can offer some candles to the Virgin Mary. On the way to Church, Ingeri stays behind and Karin goes alone. Before Karin reaches the church, she meets up with two desperate goatherds and their little brother. Karin is very friendly but also very naïve. She feels pity for the goatherds and offers to share her lunch with them. They accept her offer only under the condition that she joins them. She agrees, not realizing what they really have in mind. It's obvious that as she is eating with them, Karin begins to feel uncomfortable with the way the two older goatherds have suddenly changed their demeanor towards her and the way they are looking at her. Eating is the last thing on the minds of the two men. They both rape her and then one of them kills her by hitting her once over the head with a club. Ingeri has managed to find Karin, and she watches as the goatherds rape and kill her. It's obvious at this point that Ingeri does not really and truly want Karin to be harmed, despite her previous wishes. She watches in frozen horror, too shocked and frightened to do anything to help her sister. After it is over, Ingeri runs back home, but she is too afraid and feeling too guilty to tell her foster parents right away. She hides until she is found by her foster father. In a strange twist of fate, the goatherds end up asking for shelter at Karin's home. During the course of the evening, Karin's parents learn about what has happened to their daughter, unbeknownst to the goatherds. Despite their Christian beliefs, they parents exact their revenge on the two men. Sadly, the father also cruelly kills the younger brother. The boy is not responsible in any way for Karin's rape and murder, and he is also a victim. He is only guilty by association in the father's eyes. Immediately after killing the boy, the father realizes that he has gone too far. He later promises to God to atone for his sins.

This movie is just so powerful. It made such an impact on me. I was Karin as a young girl. I was naïve and bit spoiled and coddled as a child and teenager. I was also resented by siblings. I mean, my siblings loved me and still do, but I understand the situation between Karin and Ingeri so well. In the beginning of the story, Karin seems vain, selfish, and naïve. She's pretty and more privileged than her foster sister, Ingeri. I felt so much pity for Ingeri. Ingeri is never allowed to forget that this family is kind enough to take her in as one of their own. She is also "damaged goods." This is medieval Sweden and Ingeri is unmarried and pregnant. She feels very much trapped in the world that she is in, and there is no hope to escape it. It is never revealed who the father of Ingeri's child is. We don't know if she is pregnant because she was raped or if she has willingly engaged in sex before being married. Karin even makes an insulting remark to her early in the film about her condition. Karin asks Ingeri if the baby "hurts" her, and Ingeri tells her that she will find out for herself one day. Karin then offers a mean retort. She tells her that when that day does come, she will be married with "honor" and mistress of her own home. (Ouch!)This probably will not be the case for Ingeri!

Early in the film, Ingeri' jealousy and pain make her wish for something bad to happen to her sister. I think that these are normal human emotions. When something bad does happen to Karin, Ingeri is immediately sorry.

This is a wonderful, sad, timeless film that is truly a work of art.

Another Bergman Masterpiece.......2007-02-21

I make no claim to be an expert on movies, but I know a good one when I see it and The Virgin Spring is just one more of the powerful, deeply moving masterpieces I've had the pleasure of viewing lately.
I won't rehash the plot, but I will comment on things worthy of notice not really mentioned by other reviewers.
1)What is the symbolism in Odin-worship of the frog? Notice how the kid got sick after tasting the bread that had sandwiched the frog?
2)Note how the prayer said before the meal had a powerful affect on the same kid. Only he seems to remember its the same prayer said when Karin shared her food with the goatherds. See that he is the only one of the goatherds with a semblance of a conscience because of how he reacts.
3)See how carefree and guileless Karin was in the presence of the goatherds until the one mentioned how lovely her waist was. Perhaps at that point she remembers what her half-sister had said about the impossibility of maintaining virtue when confronted by determined and half-savage rapists. Karin was kind of spoiled. One thing her folks didn't teach her was the ways of the world.
4)Note how Karin's mother kept her head when presented with her daughter's garments for sale, saying she would have to consult with her husband on the proper price for such a valuable gown. Once she managed to leave the manor-house where the goatherds were sheltering overnight without breaking down, she then had the presence of mind to bar the door so that the guilty could not escape. She did such a good job hiding her feelings that the goatherds felt safe enough to fall asleep.
5)Note how the father removed his daughter's things from the murderer's bag and laid them on the table, waiting for the murderers to awaken so he could confront them and so the ostensible guests would know why they were to be killed. His impatience didn't allow him to wait for them to awaken, however, and he finished them off with hard struggle after awakening them himself. Vengeance is one of the movie's themes. The father's religious beliefs made him feel guilty. But in the absence of an established legal system, what else could he do? He couldn't bring his daughter back but the guilty certainly received their condign punishments.
His foster-daughter was lucky that he allowed her to live after what she told him about the rape/slaying of his daughter. But how would he regard her from that point on?
6)Then there is the religious symbolism at the end where the spring burst forth from where the murdered girl's head lay after her father proclaimed to the heavens his intention to build a church on the spot with his bare hands.
There are a lot of other instances throughout the movie fraught with symbolism and I'm sure I missed some of them. But beyond the artistic beauty of the film and the quality of the performances, there is much food for thought offered the viewer if only he or she will partake of it. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants something beyond mindless entertainment from their movie experiences. It is certainly a film I will watch again.

Deceptive Simplicity..........2007-01-24

One of his early films, what I find compelling about Bergman's Virgin Spring is its apparent pure simplicity in a story told with economy and a minimum of dialogue, and yet the great depth of emotion and character that is revealed within this spare fable. The telling detail of each of the leads is revealed in small, fleeting moments, with a look or gesture. The film's themes of love and jealousy, of want and privilege, of violence and vengeance, of faith and despair are told in brief touches, and no character is presented in simple terms, but rather display counter-intuitive but completely human traits.

The cast, lead by the always strong and impressive Max Von Sydow, is fine. The black and white photography by Sven Nykvist is, as usual, exquisite. The medieval costume and sets convincing. The assault and murder as presented within this 1960 film is still terrible to watch. The subsequent vengeance is troubling. The questioning of God but the final surrender to faith understandable.

Reading my fellow reviewers, I note that some say this is Bergman's most accessible film, and possibly not as highly rated by his admirers. Well, I agree to the former but not with the latter. And I caution that its accessiblity does not mean it is without depth. Every action here has consequence. Nothing is simple and clear-cut. We cry out for vengeance, but Bergman undercuts our emotion when the father goes one act too many. Innocense is destroyed, and in the face of such abject despair how can life go on? And yet a spring spills forth and somehow solace and renewal must be found.

I had not seen this film in 20 years and upon watching it again I was struck by the power of a simple story, beautifully told.

Average customer rating:

Wow This Movie.
Just a fun movie
DEADLY HEADLINES

A Killing Spring
Starring: Wendy Crewson , Shawn Doyle , Michael Ontkean , Zachery Ty Bryan , and Sherry Miller
Director: Stephen Williams
Manufacturer: Mti Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000VV4EK
Release Date: 2004-01-20

Product Description

When the Dean of Journalism at Lanholme College is found dead, former cop turned crime reporter, Joanne Kilbourn, is pulled into the world of academic competitiveness and ruthless ambition where everyone-students, professors and the Dean's wife-all become suspects.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

Wow This Movie........2007-04-03

This movie kept you wonderding what the heck was really going on. The only part I did not like in this movie, was Michael Ontkean at the end of the movie, well you'll have to watch it to find out, then you will know what I mean. I'm an Ontkean fan!

Just a fun movie.......2006-06-24

I did find this movie fun to watch. I think Shawn Doyle did a great job. His expressions during certain scenes took me by surprise, he is good! This is a great popcorn movie.
Just watch it for fun. Do not expect too much from this movie.

DEADLY HEADLINES.......2005-02-09

A KILLING SPRING is one of three Canadian TV movies featuring talented Wendy Crewson (The Doctor, The Santa Clause movies) as a college instructor who used to be a cop. In this case, the victim is a college dean, who has been having romantic affairs with both students and other faculty's wives. There are tons of suspects, seems like everyone wanted the poor fellow dead. Those suspects include an ambitious, bitchy journalism student who wants the prestigious news award, claiming she has a very hot story to tell; her rival, a young stud who works as a mechanic with his dad, and who could certainly use the award to jumpstart his career; the assistant dean, whose wife is one of the dean's conquests; the drug-addled wife of the victim who knew what her hubby was up to; the list goes on. Director Stephen Williams keeps the pace interesting, and Crewson is a likeable heroine. Shawn Doyle as the acerbic hunky cop does well; Zachery Ty Bryan plays the wannabe newscaster well; and Michael Ontkean turns up as a novelist whose best selling novel is propelling him to fame, and into Crewson's bed.
All in all, reminiscent of the style of MURDER SHE WROTE, a little more mature in presentation, though.

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