The Seventh Seal is a 1957 swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman, he was the son of a pastor and grew up in a lutheran household. Many of his films question or depict faith, God, and the human relationship with religion and existence itself. The Seventh Seal is a classic example of Bergmans earliest work, it is a black and white film and opens up with a reading of the section from the Bibles book of revelation that speaks about the lamb breaking the seventh seal and the apocalyptic events that follow from that. it depicts Antonius Block, a swedish knight who has just come back from the crusades, and his hopelessness in his faith in God and Gods existence. When Block and his squire Jons return they find themselves faced with the black plague. One day as Block is playing chess he encounters Death himself a character depicted with a paleface and wearing a dark cloak, he then challenges Death to a game of chess to challenge his power and proposes to himself that he will perform one meaningful thing in his life. There is also a band of actors traveling two men, Skat and Jof, who experences continuous visions of demons and angels,along with his wife Mia and their young baby. Meanwhile Block and Jons have begun traveling with a servant girl of a nearby village, they soon meet the actors after Skat runs away with a blacksmiths wife lisa. The whole band keep traveling together all the while Death appearing and playing a game of chess wiht Block, no one else seems to be able to see Death besides Block other than Jof who at one point sees Death playing chess with Block and rushes for mia to get going and get away from the rest of the travellers, as Block sees this he makes sure that they get away while Death is distracted, this is the final deed Block performs as Death has told him that no one can escape him but Block has allowed for Mia and Jof to escape. After that Block and the remaining travelers finally reach his castle where his wife is waiting for them, there she reads the part from the book of revelations that speaks about the seventh seal being broken and the time comes nearer and nearer, finally Death enters the room and they are all taken away by him, later as Jof and Mia continue of their travels, Jof stopps to tell Mia of a vision that he sees against the horizon- that of all the rest of the band holding hands and dancing the dance of death with Death leading the way, Jof, Mia and their small son then go off their own way.
I found this film to have a very uncanny feel to it, it is a black and white film and i think that adds to the overall feel and theme that Bergman wanted to get across, even though it was black and white, the scenes were very well put together in terms of contrast of light and shadow, there was always sharp contrast amongst the scenes even though it was in black and white. This film has alot of allusions and archetypes embedded into it- you could say that the couple with the young child- Jof and Mia are a representation of the holy family of Joseph,Mary and Jesus or representive of the good that comes of that, that is why in the end they are saved because they represent a sacred and divine body of beings. Blocks struggle with accepting god and finding his faith is something that i think Bergman wanted to portray in this film portrayal of the reality of many people on earth and their struggle with the same thing, it explores human fears- especially the fear of Death, the playing of chess is depiction of peoples constant attempt at trying to avoid the idea that they will die, also Blocks determination to perform some meaningful deed is reflective in the inner need that all humans have of needing to have made the best of their lives and not have lived in vain, I think Bergman also explored the human nature of always seeking more and never being quite satisfied with the present, until youre time has come do you realize that you had everything you needed before you the whole time.
No comments:
Post a Comment