Movie Monday: The Seventh Seal

Movie Monday: The Seventh Seal



There are very few films one could label as masterful in the way they portray their thematic elements. In particular, films that ascribe themselves to darker themes have the potential of getting lost in their own self-wallowing, creating hopelessness without any tact. A film that wants to engage in a less-than-happy story should do so, but it also has to be able to present itself with tact. A classic of Swedish cinema that manages to tackle dark themes well is Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 film The Seventh Seal. A dark fantasy set in the 14th century, The Seventh Seal chronicles a journey of faith for a knight, Antonius Block, who has returned to plague-riddled Sweden after participating in the Crusades. Disenchanted with the world and accompanied only by his pessimistic squire, Jöns, Block’s return to his home country is also marred by the presence of Death himself. Death has come to take Block away, a fate Block refuses to accept given his holy beliefs and all that he’s experienced. In denial of his own demise, Block challenges Death to a game of chess, believing he will live so long as he wins, and thinking he can save himself so long as the game carries on.

 

What makes The Seventh Seal such an interesting film isn’t really its story, which involves Block, Jöns, and a group of actors they cross paths with journeying toward Block’s castle to take refuge from the Black Plague. Rather, the film shines because of its major characters as well as the central themes involved in the film. To start with, Block’s development and growth throughout the film gives an air of realism to an otherwise fantastical idea. Having now engaged with Death himself in a game of chess, Block is forced to reevaluate his religious beliefs in order to come to terms with this new spiritual figure he hadn’t believed existed. Much of his change is also influenced by his greed, which plays a role in the story I won’t spoil here. Jöns also gets standout moments throughout, oftentimes stealing the show with his presence thanks to an incredible performance by Gunnar Björnstrand. The major characters in the previously mentioned group of actors—these being Jof and his wife Mia—also go through interesting character arcs. Jof in particular has his own journey tied together with the supernatural, envisioning a religious happening early in the film. In some capacity, Jof and Block are polar opposites of one another, both seeing religious ideations of Death in different ways. Without going too much into spoiler territory, Jof’s visions tie directly into the start and end of the film, doing so in stark contrast to the myriad of conversations Block has with Death over their game.



 

The decision to set the film in 14th century Sweden also assists in bolstering the movie’s dealings with the concept of death. Death follows the characters everywhere they go, even if he isn’t doing so via a personified, cloaked figure. The group comes into contact with people that have been impacted by the plague in one way or another. Some have been relinquished to a life of crime, while other groups have formed religious doomsday cults surrounding the illness (likening it to the First Horseman of the Apocalypse, Pestilence). These encounters allow for different ideas of death as a concept to be explored throughout the film, death acting as one of the main driving forces behind its story, character arcs, and thematic elements. By creating different lenses by which death is viewed, characters and even one-off groups feel realistic in this world. Historically, the Black Plague’s ruination of Europe through its small survivability rate would have resulted in this wide array of perspectives. So it’s good to see so many of them laid out in the film.

 

Overall, if you’re looking for a movie that tackles themes surrounding death and religion that’s more character-driven than it is plot-driven (and you have about four bucks to spare for renting it), I’d check out The Seventh Seal. It’s not going to be a happy movie, but it’s one that stands the test of time despite having been made over sixty years ago. It’s a well-crafted dark fantasy that doesn’t shy away from tackling some hard-hitting topics. Highly recommend it if you’re looking for something thematically pleasing to watch.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gemini Home Entertainment: Cosmic Horror Meets Analog Video

Image
  Gemini Home Entertainment: Cosmic Horror Meets Analog Video Supernatural horror, as a genre, can come in many shapes and sizes. From books to television to even comic books, the idea of something unknown and unexplainable lurking just at the corners of human vision has always fascinated us. I should know, given I've written books inspired by those very ideas. But, with the Internet allowing storytellers more tools to create and share the worlds they envision, a whole new slew of horror content has been cropping up in the last decade or so. This ranges from shows like  Marble Hornets , a webseries about the popular, faceless Slenderman monster, to "creepypasta," Internet horror stories, some of which are incredibly chilling ("Candle Cove" being one of my favorites).  But recently, a new type of video has been cropping up on YouTube: Analog horror. A subgenre of found footage, analog horror typically throws away the idea that found footage has to rely on a chara...
Read more

The Last of Us: You Are Not Joel Miller

Image
[Warning: The following post will contain spoilers for the series premiere of HBO's  The Last of Us series.] I have never played The Last of Us . The only exposure I've ever had to the game was its gameplay reveal during E3 2012 and the opening scene on YouTube. That's it. The rest of my knowledge--that Joel and Ellie are two survivors in a zombie-like apocalypse that sprung from mutated Cordyceps that jumped from ants to humans--comes from cultural osmosis. I didn't know the plot of the game, what the characters were like, or what to expect from HBO's television adaptation of the critically-acclaimed action-adventure experience. I was in the dark, going into the series premiere on Sunday night only knowing what to expect out of the beginning of the episode. What I wasn't expecting was the way things were presented to me. I have to preface this with something important: The Last of Us Episode 1 is good. Not great, not perfect, but definitely not as bad as I expe...
Read more

The Walking Dead S11 E12: "The Lucky Ones" Review

Image
  The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 12: "The Lucky Ones" Review [WARNING: Major spoilers for  The Walking Dead  seasons 1-10, spoilers for season 11.] With the previous episode of The Walking Dead giving us a little more insight as to what may be going on within darker confines of the Commonwealth, I was anticipating another episode that would elaborate on what had been established. What I didn't expect, however, was a mixed bag episode that both indicated what the conflict for Part 2 would be moving forward while also raising a lot of questions regarding the show's inner logistics. While this episode did excite me for what was to come, a lot of it felt like filler that could have been established within half an episode. Regardless, while I'm a bit iffy on the presentation, I am interested to see where the story is going and how it's going to differ from the comics--which is already evident given what's been happening. The major plot of this episode sees ...
Read more