The Virgin Spring is a movie that is, to me, morally complex. The movie has numerous lessons that are being given out to the audience during the film. In this critical essay, I will be enumerating them. .
This movie is an emotionally wrenching story about an innocent, but spoiled young girl named Karin. She is the daughter of the leader of a small group of peasant farmers. One day, she sets off on a journey through the woods to deliver candles to the church. On her way there she comes across three goatherd brothers. Because of her being nave and innocent, she allows them to take some of her time and they have a little picnic with food that her mom had prepared for her journey. Even though she showed much kindness to these brothers, she is still subsequently raped and murdered by them. Ever since I was little, my elders would always tell me never to talk to strangers. You don't know where they come from and you don't know what they want. What happened to Karin is a perfect example of what could happen to a person if you were nave and trusted people you don't even know. You should always be cautious of strangers.
What happens next in the story is that the brothers then unwittingly seek shelter at the very house the girl has come from. The youngest brother was fed food, but he just could not stomach it. This was a sign already that something was wrong. Now, when they try to sell the girl's bloodstained cloak to the parents, the father and his wife realize what has happened. So, at night, he already does his penance by whipping himself with branches. This is in preparation for the violent revenge he will be doing. After this, the father goes into the room that the three brothers are sleeping in and kills all of them including the very young boy. He shows no mercy for the men who killed his daughter. The lesson here is "do not do unto others what you do not want done unto you.