3. The Virgin Spring (1960)
In medieval Sweden, a prosperous Christian's daughter - Karin - is appointed to take the candles to the church. She is accompanied by her pregnant maid Ingeri. When the pair get to the forest, they split. Ingeri is terrified by a one eyed man she encounters while Karin meets three herdsmen and asks them to eat with her. Sadly, she is raped by the two older herdsmen and murdered. Ingeri watches in horror from behind a tree. The men take Karin's clothes and leave the younger herdsman to watch over the sheep. The herders unwittingly go to Karin's house. They try to sell Karin's clothes to her mother and the realisation that these men have presumably raped and killed their daughter begins to dawn in Karin's parents. Karin's father kills them in a frenzied rage. With the help of Ingeri, the parents locate Karin's body and her father vows to build a church on the spot she died. When they move Karin's head, a spring comes out of the ground. The Virgin Spring deals with a lot of different themes - Christianity, violence, nihilism and spiritual redemption. The plot was nicked in the 1970s by Wes Craven to make Last House on the Left. A key difference in the films is that for Mari's parents, the vengeance is hollow. In Bergman's movie, Karin's father atones for his murder of the herdsmen. He can't believe how God can be so cruel, but he is going to build a church where Karin died in sincere repentance of his actions. Vengeance is not a Christian act as the Gospel urges you to turn the other cheek. But Karin's father's actions make sense at the gut, primal level of humanity. The film copped a lot of controversy when released - mainly due to the graphic rape scene. The film still retains a lot of its power to horrify modern audiences and the theme of how the good get a lot of cosmic crap hurled at them is timeless. The film was well received by a global audience and it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Moving and haunting.