The Swede Ingmar Bergman takes us to look at the human condition faced with the most absolute evil
Revenge is a fundamentally tricky issue, although we could empathize and even see nobility in the act when it is motivated by justified causes. But perhaps this understanding opens doors to even more undesirable ends, to reactionary vigilantes or even massacres served as inevitable reprisals. Although we believe that there are unjustifiable means, there are acts that we look the other way.
At the same time, revenge is material that makes for exciting viewing, as it allows us to observe these corrective acts without consequences in reality. It is extremely entertaining to get to see a gifted vigilante do whatever it takes to rescue his daughter, just as it is a powerful method to investigate the human conditionlike the great one doesThe Maiden’s Spring‘.
A devastating story in the Scandinavian Middle Ages
Ingmar Bergman’s classic film, winner of the Oscar in the international category, temporarily returns to theaters from Barcelona and Madrid, with screenings that will take place this Thursday, May 9. An unbeatable opportunity to see one of the Swedish filmmaker’s most influential stories, a period portrait that also serves to observe absolute evil. It can also be seen streaming through acontra+, Filmin and Movistar+.
The director takes us to 14th century Scandinavia, where a Christian kingdom makes offerings to a virgin in a church to ensure its prosperity. The king sends his daughter to make the offering, accompanied by a servant who deeply hates both monarchs and her beliefs. For this reason, on the journey he abandons the princess, who remains at the mercy of some shepherds who first they approach her and then they abuse her.
Some of the most reprehensible actions, which include rape and murder, cause not only devastation to the character of Max von Sydow but also to the viewer. The devastating story had an unofficial and more contemporary remake in the iconic ‘The Last House on the Left’ by Wes Craven, while the meticulousness in the recreation of the period and the solemn and somber resources were a reference for Robert Eggers when making ‘The Northman ‘.
‘The Maiden’s Fountain’: Furious Revenge
They are different samples of the incredible validity of this particular work by Bergman, despite not being one of the most cited when it comes to commenting on his essentials or what makes him stand out as a filmmaker. His studies of relationships and the human condition, however, are very present in how he studies characters who have been beaten and contemplate how evil in its worst facet exists freely in the world.
It’s almost a very spiritual approach to what would be a schematic revenge story, or a somber period drama. Bergman shows religious concerns that he does not completely resolve, but they serve his extensive palette of techniques that he uses with his characteristic clairvoyance and intelligence. A look at the primitive that is not a critical observation of the past, but a cry at things that could perfectly happen today (Craven saw it well).
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