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by Jim Holman.
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TALK ABOUT MOVIES
January 2004
THE VIRGIN SPRING
Starring Max Von Sidow, Birgitta Valberg. 1960, 89 minutes, black and white, Sweden. In Swedish with English subtitles. Contains graphic scenes. Available at Kensington Video.
Matthew: What did you make of the visionary monk's speech to the boy, "just before you go down into Hell you'll be rescued and a hand will bear you up and an arm will encircle you and carry you to heaven." Is he speaking about God's mercy in general?
Ernie: I think he's speaking to the boy directly. I think in the boy resides the only true innocence in the film. The girl is virginal, but she's not innocent.
Matthew: Right, she's too catty to be innocent. So, if the monk's speech to the boy is prophecy, then we have to assume that in being killed in his innocence he is sort of delivered from this horrible life.
Ernie: It's interesting that the knight cries out to God, "I don't understand you, I don't understand you...
Matthew: "...but I beg your forgiveness." He knows he has sinned just as others have sinned against him. I think the evil things that have happened are the foundation of God's grace in him, in his wife, and in the servant girl. That's why he vows to build a church on the spot.
Ernie: The vow is as much figurative as literal.