In 14th-century Sweden, an innocent yet pampered teenage girl and her family's pregnant and jealous servant set out from their farm to deliver candles to church, but only one returns from events that transpire in the woods along the way.
Set in creepy 14th century Sweden, it is the sombre, powerful fable of wealthy land-owning parents whose daughter, a young virgin, is brutally raped and murdered by goat herders after her half sister has invoked a pagan curse. By a bizarre twist of fate, the murderers ask for food and shelter from the dead girl's parents, who, discovering the truth about their erstwhile lodgers, exact a chilling revenge.—L.H. Wong <[email protected]>
In medieval Sweden, the innocent and beautiful but very pampered Karin, virgin daughter of a Christian landowner, is sent to church to deliver prayer candles, accompanied by the family's jealous pregnant servant girl, Ingeri, who still believes in the Norse gods. Upon entering the dark woods along the way, Karin leaves Ingeri behind and both have an encounter with strangers, but only one returns to Karin's family farm.—KADC
In Sweden during the Middle Ages, married couple Töre and Märeta are prosperous and devout farmers. They dote on their only surviving offspring, their daughter, the innocent Karin. Their attentiveness to her is despite her faults, such as her vanity and penchant for sleep when she should be doing farm work. It's early spring, and she is tasked with bringing candles to church for matins. She convinces her mother to let her wear her Sunday best if only in her want to look pretty. The church is in the nearest village which is still a good distance away, even by horseback. As such, she convinces her parents to allow Ingeri, their pregnant maidservant, to accompany her. Ingeri is secretly envious of Karin if only because of her own lost innocence. Ingeri prays to the Norse God Odin, her latest thoughts to Odin which are against Karin. Out of circumstance, Karin and Ingeri part company half way through their trek. Ingeri encounters a one eyed man, who she ultimately steers away from despite he being what she wanted. Karin encounters a group of goatherds, three brothers consisting of two adults and an adolescent. The two adult brothers eventually rape and murder Karin, while their younger brother watches. What they are unaware of is that Ingeri, horrified, witnessed both the rape and murder, she who contemplated attacking the brothers during the rape but which she ultimately did not do. On their travels, the three brothers decide to take refuge at a farm, Töre and Märeta's farm, the couple who welcome the three into their manor house out of Christian charity. The questions become whether either side will discover their connection, and what Ingeri will do based on her prayers and what she witnessed. Through Karin's absence, Töre and Märeta critically review their family dynamic.—Huggo
In Sweden, in the Fourteenth Century, Karin is the favorite and virgin daughter of the religious Töre and Märeta. She is the pride and joy of her family. On the day of Our Lady of Virgins, her father asks her to go to a distant church with her pregnant stepsister and carry some candle for Our Lady. On the way through the woods, the naive girl leaves her stepsister resting in a small farm and continues her journey alone. She meets three shepherd brothers and invites them to share her food. Then, they rape and kill her, under the eyes of her hidden stepsister. The same night, the three brothers arrive and look for shelter at her home. The revenge of her father is very impressive.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The Virgin Spring tells the story, set in medieval Sweden, of a prosperous Christian whose daughter, Karin (Birgitta Pettersson) is appointed to take candles to the church. Karin is accompanied by her pregnant foster sister, Ingeri (Gunnel Lindblom), who secretly worships the Norse deity Odin. Along their way through the forest on horseback, the two part, and Karin sets out on her own.
Ingeri encounters a one-eyed man at a stream-side mill, converses briefly with him, and then flees in terror. Karin meets three herdsmen (two men and a boy), and invites them to eat her lunch with her. Eventually, the two older men rape and murder Karin (while Ingeri watches from a hidden distance). The trio then leave the scene with Karin's clothing.
The herders then, unknowingly, seek shelter at the home of the murdered girl. Her parents, played by Max von Sydow and Birgitta Valberg, discover that the goat herders murdered their daughter when the goat herders offer to sell Karin's clothes to her mother. In a rage, the father locks the trio in the chamber and kills them.
The next day, the parents set out to find their daughter's body, with the help of Ingeri. Her father vows that, although he cannot understand why God would allow such a thing to happen, he will build a church at the site of his daughter's death because his conscience is forcing him to atone. As her parents lift her head from the ground, a spring begins to flow from where she was lying. Her sister Ingeri then begins to wash herself with the water, and Karin's parents clean her muddied face.
