No pun intended - when is love forbidden and why would we call it that? Of course it is the circumstances ... as in (almost) no one allowing our characters to live their love ... to embrace that love they have for each other. Which also makes for a great theme for a movie - watching two individuals trying to overcome society and many people ... and assaults of various kinds (no pun intended here either).

Considering the time this was made, it really has aged quite well to say the least. If you don't mind the black and white that is and the village setting ... and the pacing. Not trying to be funny - I naturally am. Just kidding, I really think this holds up really well. You still have to be able to suspend your disbelief and go with the flow. And cherish and empathize with the main characters ... and be able to stomach one tough scene. Thinking about the time this was made ... I can't imagine the censors in America would have let them shoot at least one scene that is quite ... well on the fence, with the attack and the mood it is setting.

Still this is tame compared to recent productions of course ... thankful to streaming services who provided this for us to watch.

A wonderful film in many ways.

The actors playing Marit and Jon are perfect for the parts. The chemistry between them works. You believe in their lovestory.

The film captures some of the themes and the good stuff from the book, which I have loved for 60 years. But I do miss quite a few things that are left out: Marit's and Jon's struggle to get eachother is way longer and more dramatic than portrayed in the film.

Marit is not fascinated by Jon's fiddle, like it seems in the film. It takes her a while to actually fall in love with Jon. In the beginning it's more gratitute towards him for saving her from being raped, it's pity, because he is so poor, lonely and misunderstood. What makes her fall in love is more, that Jon is not pushy and rough like f. I. Matts, who also almost tries to rape her.

Jon is gentle and caring - although he also is close to raping her - but stops, when she resists.

Jon's fear of the supernational and his own part in it - i. E. being the son of Strömkarlen - is part of HIS attraction to Marit, because she doesn't believe in it. She treats him like a normal man.

The two times Marit saves Jon from the angry mob is downplayed in the film, and that's too bad - because that was very dramatic. At least Jon seemed to be in mortal danger.

The forestfire is completely left out, which is a shame, because that is where Marit realizes, she loves Jon.

The fight between Father Germund and Jon is also left out.

I also miss the birth of their child.

There are so many layers in the novel - besides the lovestory between Marit and Jon: the culture in northeastern Sweden 1807 - 1830. What they eat, how they dress, that you can't go to church if you don't have the proper clothes (Jon). How they drink - LOTS of Snaps - all the time. Every man has his "pocketlark" as it was called. They drink in the morning - to get appetite - to heat up, as medicine, at dances - the men must have had a buzz all the time.

You learn about the work - both the men's and the women's.

The relationship between the sexes - that the young men can go courting the girls at night in their beds.......!!??

How the men fought all the time. And that was regarded normal. The women patched up their injures afterwards .......

Then of course details about the superstition at the time, which florished alongside the church: Strömkarlen, huldren, the wild hunt.

Nature plays a big part also: the stream with the deadly fall, the white nights of summer, the dark forests, the cliffs.

Glabo-Kalle has a much larger part in the film than the novel.

Mother Sigrid is completely left out.

In the novel Knut is still son at his father's farm.

But I still enjoy the film - thanks to Mai Zetterling and Alf Kjellin. They are fascinating as Jon and Marit.

The restored copy of this magnificent movie is a wonder : the country landscapes (the hills, the -moody-river ,the forest) are a feast for the eye ; it looks like a legend ,(one of the scenes recalls "Jungfrukällan ",the virgin spring" which Bergman would transfer to the screen in 1959) , blending a repressive religion and superstitions (the river fairy ,the would be maleficent power of the violin which plays devil's music)who made Jon , whose parents elope when his mother was engaged,an outcast , an accursed ,a pariah.

Jon's violin plays a prominent part in the story ,and the sequences of the rustic ball are among the best I have ever seen ; Jon got a raw deal :his parents' sins (if one can call a sin the right to choose the man you love) fall on his head and he's the black sheep of the village where he's considered a protégé of the fairies ,a heathen young man .

Marit is a feminist at a time the word was not invented : it took a lot of guts to say no to an arranged marriage in front of the whole congregation .

Both she and Jon are against the whole world ,and the history of long ago is about to repeat itself.

"Driver dagg faller regn" (after dew, rain)is not a pessimistic work though ; it gets through a message of tolerance ,of forgiveness and of hope :" the river" ,like in Frank Borzage 's eponymous silent film (1928), becomes a character ,and brings doom and redemption.

The score is tremendous, integrating folk music , including one old song performed by Mai Zetterling,who was known in Western Europa.