Sydow, loses his Christian values to commit the act of revenge, and offers to build a church as redemption. Film scholar Marc Gervais elaborated that Töre's revenge is "ritualized pagan vengeance", adding "Töre is torn between two ritualized imperatives: pagan vengeance, Christian repentance and forgiveness". Gervais commented on how it compared to William Shakespeare's Macbeth in its themes of "embracing the dark forces, succumbing to evil, and being overwhelmed by conscience". Consistent with fairy tales, Karin and Ingeri are presented as opposites, Karin as an innocent virgin who always appears clean and in fine clothing. In contrast, Ingeri is dirty, dark in complexion, rides a darker horse, and her pregnancy indicates compromised innocence. The rape scene represents Karin losing her innocence, with her appearance afterward being disordered. Screenwriter Ulla Isaksson viewed the spring as symbolizing Karin's innocence. Ingeri uses it to wash her head, which she used to plan the spell, and her eyes, which she used to watch the rape, and drinks the water, symbolizing absolution. Critic Peter Cowie tied the spring in with Ingeri's fire in the opening and streams seen throughout the film as representing "The pagan significance of fire, earth, and water". Production Development Director Ingmar Bergman first read about the legend of Per Töre, who had seven daughters who fell victim to seven rapists, as a student, and felt it was ideal for adaptation. He had proposed it as a ballet for the Royal Swedish Opera or as a play, but decided a film would be most suitable while making Wild Strawberries. For adaptation, Bergman chose "Töres döttrar i Wänge" as among the simplest of the ballads about Töre. New influences came from Japanese cinema, with Bergman particularly being a fan of Rashomon (1950). He later referred to The Virgin Spring as "a wretched imitation of Kurosawa". For a screenwriter, Bergman chose novelist Ulla Isaksson. Isaksson had written a novel set in Medieval times and was acclaimed for its realism, which Bergman felt might prevent repeat of some criticisms of his 1957 film The Seventh Seal. In writing the screenplay, Isaksson was most interested in exploring conflicts between Christianity and paganism, while Bergman wanted to dissect guilt. SF Studios required Bergman to make a comedy before agreeing to produce The Virgin Spring. The comedy became The Devil's Eye. Filming By the time The Virgin Spring began production, Bergman's relationship with his usual cinematographer Gunnar Fischer