Hi there,

With the remake of "Last House on the Left" hitting theaters this weekend I decided to rent the Criterion edition of the Ingmar Bergman 1960's classic 'The Virgin Spring". Wes Craven, who directed the original 1972 "Last House on the Left" used the Bergman film as his inspiration.

I have been a fan of non english speaking movies for over 30 years. However, Ingmar Bergman movies remain, for me, the most difficult to love. I have felt a detachment and coldness within his movies and end up appreciating and liking them but only truly loving one. It's a source of disquiet for me, because I know he's considered a great and I turn the focus back on myself and wonder why I don't warm to his work.

The one exception has been "Wild Strawberries".

I first saw "Virgin Spring" many years ago and don't really remember it. It was long overdue a repeat. In essence it is an historical drama where we have a religious rural family with a beautiful young daughter. While out in the woods, she is raped and slain by some unknowns and the father sets out on a mission of revenge.

I really liked this film.

The black and white cinematography by Sven Nykvist is a revelation. Note how he uses different lighting for the good and bad characters in the movie even within the same scenes. I was reminded of "The Passion of Joan of Arc". The film is very high contrast!

Max Von Sydow is sensational and quite beautifully handsome. I've been impressed by his gravitas as a relatively older man in modern movies. Now I truly understand why he's so respected.

There are big religious themes at work here. Most importantly, the father's wonder at how this could have happened if his God had been looking after him.

I worked through the extras on the disc. the Bergman interview is great, but the commentary is dreadful. The lady is knowledgeable, but is clearly reading and totally boring.

So this would be my second favorite Bergman movie and inspires me to move forwards. I cooked a nice dinner, opened a pleasant red wine and watched this rather than going out and paying $10 for the remake. I was well rewarded - 8/10

Rob

Haha, I literally just added this to my Netflix queue yesterday. I'll pop in with my thoughts after I get it.

Anyone that has interest in the Craven film or the remake should make it a point to watch The Virgin Spring.

@Rob...

I like hearing about your lack of interest in Bergman. I understand your feelings but mine come from a lack of interest in the French New Wave. They don't appeal to me in the least and they bore me. Yet all I hear is great things.

Yeah, foreign films as they are often called can be hard work because you have to make the commitment to really focus upon something that is very different to normal films of today. And yes, I know you don't think Bergman is French!

My own personal experience is that as I grew older I became increasingly frustrated with the weekly output of Hollywood. There's something pointless about endless rehashes of old ideas or stories or even films. I'm not saying that Hollywood can't make great movies, but the scoring rate is nowhere near .300. I guess I just realized that there could be more than watching what I was being force fed out of LA. I mean, just look at the three films James is enduring this week.

I began to realize that if I carefully selected movies from the vast library of the rest of the world and all history my scoring rate would start to climb. The operative word is carefully. As I found movies that I loved I experimented even more.

This is where it's easy to get criticized as being elitist. It's not meant to be. Watching foreign movies is not anything special. They are no better than great American movies. However, there are many wonderful pleasures lying outside the walls of Hollywood. The problem, is finding them. I'm envious of people who begin the journey and feel this great urge to wish them well and offer a small map as they pass through the gates.

So I hope you'll bear with me. I am one of the oldest (the oldest?) members on the forum. It does not make be smarter or wiser, but it does give me a different perspective. The perspective is one of 40 years of watching films and over 10,000 movies. Between the ages of 15 and 25 I was addicted to modern Hollywood action, horror, science fiction, comedies and thrillers. Over the next ten years I started the movie experimentation game by going backwards into US and UK film history. Over the last fifteen I have increasingly explored other countries. maybe as senility approaches I will move back to teen comedies It's not like I planned it, it just sort of happened. the more I tried and liked it, the more I did it. I am now a registered addict.

The French new wave would have been a complete bore to me many years ago. However, within the history of French cinema there are many movies that are not boring at all. I was lucky as I lived in Paris, Geneva and then Brussels for eight years. So the ability to listen to a French movie (which is disappearing) certainly helped. But the same is true of Japan. I would have found a bunch of old warriors screaming at each other for three hours in something that was supposed to be Shakespearian a total bore. Give me a break!

The key is to choose careful and not start with potential bores such as the almost silent life and times of a french donkey (Au Hasard Balthazar) or a pair of old japanese people journeying to meet their horrible kids (Tokyo Story). If I'd seen them first up, I'd have been bored as hell.

I almost think it would be cool to combine the wisdom of this forum and provide a roadmap to foreign movies. Not films that people personally like for whatever reason, but films that most people would love and encourage them to dig deeper. In my spare time I climb. the way to succeed is start with easy and fun routes that give you an amazing summit and then go from there. You don't go straight to El Cap or K2!

The Reelviews guide to having fun with foreign movies. Each movie graded like climbs. A list of great foreign movies, but graded for accessibility and fun rather than physical or mental challenge.

I wish I had had access to this 25 years ago!

What do you think? Do we have lovers of Asian and European cinema who could unearth the gems that got them going?

Rob

I'm curious if anyone is interested in the idea above - starting a thread where we get members to recommend foreign movies that are more accessible?

What do you think?

Rob

That's a great idea. I'll start a thread if you haven't already.

I saw The Virgin Spring recently and agree with Mr. Holloway's thoughts. He's a tougher critic than me though, I gave it a 9/10. This is one of those classics that doesn't seem to have aged at all. I highly recommend that everyone checks it out, if only to see the amazing sight of Max von Sydow wrestling a tree!

Oh jeez, I completely forgot about this thread. Well, I did see it and to be honest I felt it was a bit of a mixed bag.



Overall I liked the film. I don't really give ratings but it's certainly a thumbs up. I don't believe it's a classic because of the aforementioned issues, but it's a deep, well made movie that deserves credit for not sugar coating the issues.