The Virgin Spring (1960)

Bergman at his most elemental: a medieval Swedish tale, adapted from a 13th-century ballad, about a father's revenge after his daughter is raped and murdered on her way to church. Max von Sydow's Töre, wrestling a young tree to the ground with his bare hands before he acts, is an unforgettable image of faith breaking down. Be warned that the assault scene is hard to watch and drew censorship in the United States at the time. The story was later reworked as the exploitation horror The Last House on the Left, which only shows how much restraint and moral weight Bergman brought to the same material.