There is a story in the Bible: the sacrifice of Alabham.
In order to test Whether Alaborhan was pious, God asked him to take Isaac, Arabraham's beloved son, to Mount Moriah as a burnt offering to God, and Abraham, who believed in God, was willing to endure this cruel destiny, and the naïve son did not know that he was a sacrifice, so he asked his father, why did not bring a sacrifice? But the father ignored it, and when he reached the mountain, when Abraham placed his son on the altar and was about to kill his own son, the messenger of God stopped him from heaven.
The angel said, don't hurt this innocent child. But even your only begotten Son can be brave enough to offer to God, and I have no doubt about your piety to God.
Because Abraham withstood this mortal test, God appointed him as an agent of the mortal world.
When I read this story, I have two interpretations, one is that the reason why Abraham became an agent of the mortal world is because he has the narrowness and limitations common to mortals, and the original sin released under some obsession has caused the tragedy of human beings themselves, after all- does God exist? Humans themselves cannot answer this question.
Second, when the angel of God appears, it is the moment of the rational awakening of mankind, if God is a lover, how can he allow mankind to sacrifice his dear ones, when he realizes that at that moment, God is disillusioned, the darkness disappears like light smoke, so the human side takes the initiative, so that angels appear and mankind is saved.
Bergman's "Fountain of the Virgin" actually explores this problem.
After a day of prayer, the pious farmers and their wives arranged for their beloved daughter Karin to go to church to deliver some candles, but unexpectedly, they were raped and killed by three shepherds on the way, and then snatched her valuable clothes, and then the three shepherds peddled Karin's coat to the Dolls while they were staying at The Tower's house, and Tao, who found the truth, then killed the shepherd to avenge his beloved daughter.
In such a story, Bergman raises an age-old question: Does God, does He exist?
In the film, Tauer collapses at the moment he sees his daughter's body, and he asks the heavens:
God, you saw it all! If the death of this innocent child and my revenge happened with your permission, then I do not understand, very much do not understand! However, I still hope to receive your forgiveness.
This "heavenly question" almost summarizes the question raised by the whole movie, whether God exists or not, if God exists, then why is there such a tragedy still happening in the human world, we have no doubt about God's mercy and our own faith, but God does not speak, so who will explain all this?
Although God is speechless, God may be there, and Tauer still prays for God's forgiveness. In the darkest of the Middle Ages, atheism may also have been a sin.
If human beings themselves are sinful, greedy, arrogant, jealous, lazy, narrow-minded, selfish... These human sins are innate, so is God allowing all this to happen to wash away human sins? Can humanity only be saved in one pain after another?
At the end of the story, miracles emerge, a spring gushes out from Karin's body, and the crowd is baptized like religious believers.
Thus, Tao's question of heaven was answered, "God may exist", God arranged all this, proving that God has his own considerations, and since everything is God's arrangement, then everything is reasonable, so that the sins and pains of the people are soothed and released in the flow of spring water.
If there is no miracle at the end, the director's intention is self-evident, the story is too thin, the director does not do this, whether atheists or theists can get a corresponding interpretation in it, but there is no ultimate answer, because no one can answer the question.
Therefore, the classicity of this film lies in this, leaving a mysterious ending for the audience to think about. This reflection is both concrete and grand, shallow and heavy, as in Hamlet's age-old question of "survival or destruction."
Bergman completes this proposition with such a brief story, the texture and audiovisual language of black and white films have created a timeless classic, and similar masterpieces, as well as Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, are as gripping and artistic.
Director Bergman is Ang Lee's spiritual idol, and this film is called "a day of empowerment and a day that will never be forgotten", and it is no wonder that it has become the enlightenment of director Ang Lee from film.