The Virgin Spring

This is a slow, depressing, and horrific movie, but I was blown away! It's difficult to say that I love or enjoyed The Virgin Spring because of the subject matter, but this was an amazing film from 1960. It's harrowing and intense and has such superb cinematography. It's a bleak, unforgiving story that I just could not keep my eyes off of. I was honestly not expecting a rape revenge story quite like this, and I was hoping for a more brutal ending for these abhorrent shit stains of people. I was a little saddened by the child also being murdered, but I can't really blame the father for his rage.

All of the acting in this was superb, and I absolutely felt as if I was there with the characters in the 14th century. Both Gunnel Lindblom and Birgitta Pettersson, who played the two female leads, were standouts to me, and they perfectly captured the pain of this entire movie. I am still affected, and their pained faces are burned into my memory.

I can't really recommend this for everyone, but I respect the craft, and this is a really haunting movie that deserves its spot in the top 500 on Letterboxd!