The Virgin Spring

I am happy to announce that I finished watching The Virgin Spring. It was not an easy task. I don't really know what to say about the film. So many good things have been said about the film from professional critics, and it even won the Best Foreign Language Film at the 1961 Academy Awards. But to me, the acting is overly dramatic, unbelievable, and the visual is not impressive or exceptionally artistic.

Maybe I just don't know how to view this film, where to place The Virgin Spring in the history and context of cinema. Perhaps, in 1960 when the film was released, it was quite something; but as cinema evolves, our expectation of films changes in a way that a film like The Virgin Spring is not understood for its aesthetics and becomes more difficult to appreciate.

There are, however, some great topics/themes that the film explores: religion, vengeance, sexual innocence, and justice. Fifty years later, these topics are still quite relevant.

I could not find a trailer for this film so below is the first ten minutes of the film. Enjoy!