The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde inseglet)

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  December 13, 2009

  stopitgoaway

  "I met Death today. We are playing chess"
  
  The overall theme of The Seventh Seal is of the human search for the meaning of life, in the light of the coming inevitability of death (for which the chess game is a metaphor). It is possibly the greatest expression of existentialism an...( read more)d humanism in film. The film is both timeless and utterly in touch with its times - some have interpreted the film as dealing with fear of the extermination of the human race via the Cold War going nuclear, and indeed the crusades could be the film's metaphor for World War II and the plague it's metaphor for the Cold War.
  
  Max von Sydow as Antonius Block is the archetypal existentially troubled intellectual, who is in search for answers about the point of life and the existence of God. Bergman surely based him on himself, one such deep intellectual. Bergman, the son of a Lutheran minister who later became the chaplain to the King of Sweden, later lost his childhood religiosity in favor of secular rationalism, and The Seventh Seal is ultimately an atheistic film. The problem is, if God doesn't exist, then, as Block puts it, "life is a preposterous horror". How can anyone face death, knowing the cosmic insignificance of all that precedes it and the nothingness that follows it? Isn't the situation hopeless, if we are just randomly evolved apes here by accident in an indifferent world which is "unknowing", which values our emotions and our struggle for survival no more that it does any other mechanical process?
  
  Maybe the meaning of life lies in socializing, friendships, love and human relationships. Block states in the film "through my indifference to people I've been placed outside of their society. I live in a ghost world now, inhabited by my dreams and imaginations." Later, when he is enjoying strawberries and milk at sunset with Jof and Mia, all of his worries seem unreal and insignificant. This is one of the few times in the film he smiles. If existential depression cuts him off from others, then that very depression dissolves under the influence of human warmth. But Block never gives up faith in God, and remains very introspective and introverted until the end.
  
  A better character to model yourself after might be Jons, the one character who seems to fully understand his own mortality and not get depressed by it. But the best models could be Jof and Mia. They are the diametric opposite of existentially introspective people, probably the film's happiest characters, the best representation of the film's "love is all you need" ideology. The final conclusion of the film seems to be that we are going to die and there is no afterlife, so the best we can do is to love others and feel loved ourselves. If Block benefits at all from his respite, it is through helping Jof and Mia escape Death, which, again, boils down to interacting with other people. Be an extrovert and live life in the real world, with real people, rather than in your head.
  
  This may not be such an original idea, but The Seventh Seal is a great work of art for the reason that it formalizes the idea, makes it concrete, and in a breathtaking way. It enlightens and entertains you, and is certainly not an overly cold, serious work, as many people seem to say - there is a lot of comic relief, especially from Jons. And the dialogue is incredible too. In the best scenes, every single line seems to add a whole new layer of philosophical meaning. Plog at one point states that life is "mad, that's what it is". Truth is spoken - but this film is a sort of therapy, instructions for how to live in a mad, meaningless world, an atheist's Bible, even, if you like. It is certainly a masterpiece - and I don't use that term lightly, but it is fully appropriate here. As strong a contender for title of best film, bar none, ever made as there has ever been.

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• 
  
  November 24, 2009

  AgentLexi2132

  ''I met Death today. We are playing chess.''
  
  A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
  
  Max von Sydow: Antonius Block
  
  
  Seventh Seal is Dark, beautiful, meaningful,...( read more) and indeed explores the most serious themes of faith and search for the Divine, Seal is known as one of the masterpieces of Bergman. One of the film's inspirations was a painting that Bergman saw as a young boy and was awed by: "There was everything that one's imagination could desire. Angels, saints, dragons, prophets, devils, humans. There were very frightening animals: serpents in paradise, Balaam's ass, Jonah's whale, the eagle of Revelation. All this was surrounded by heavenly, earthly and subterranean landscapes of strange yet familiar beauty. I remember Death playing chess with a Crusader, Death sawing at a tree to a branch of which clung a naked man with staring eyes, and across a gentle hill Death leading the final dance towards the dark lands''.
  
  The film follows the journey of a knight Antonius Block (Sydow) returning from the Crusades, through Sweden ravaged by plague. The knight has lost his faith in the blood and horrors of the battlefield, "Faith is a torment. It is like loving someone who is out there in the darkness but never appears, no matter how loudly you call." On his way home, he encounters people dying from starvation and disease, being burnt as witches, and encounters with Death(Bengt Ekerot) himself who challenges him to play a game of chess. We then have the story of the family; a happy juggler, his wife, and their infant son. This family is happy because they love each other. They represent the simple joys and hopes of ordinary life in human proportions.
  
  The Seventh Seal is not all heavy on significance though. It has an incredible story with believable characters, wonderful performances, lots of comic relief and moves easily from drama to comedy as executed in the great Shakespearean plays. We meet an actor named Jof (Nils Poppe), his wife Mia (Bibi Andersson), and their infant son Mikael. Block looks with envy on the simple love of this family for their child. Both Jof and Block see visions of the spiritual world but Jof's visions are life affirming whereas Block sees only reflections of darkness. The film has unforgettable images such as a hawk floating in a cloudless sky, two horses standing in the surf, Jof's vision of the Virgin Mary caring for her child, and a frightening procession of plague-infected flagellants.
  
  In one of the most intense scenes, Block enters a church and confides in a cloaked man he believes to be a priest (but is actually Death). He asks Death many questions about God, but recieves no answers. This is the first time we see Block have some kind of weakness; he almost breaks down and relents thus says 'I call out to Him in the darkness, but it's as if no-one was there', and 'I want God to stretch out His hand, uncover His face and speak to me.' What answer does he receive? Not even Death knows if God exists. At the end of this scene, Block points out that we 'should make an idol of our fear, and that idol we should call God.' This profound statement is reflected throughout the rest of the film, as we realize that the communities across Sweden don't simply believe in God, but they also live in fear of him. They see the plague as a punishment directly from Him, cue a casual performance with a sinister march, where the damned whip themselves and monks sing the Dies Irae, whilst townspeople emotion lackingly say 'Judgement day looms' in the local tavern.
  
  Later, Block encounters a witch, whom is being prepared to be burnt at the stake. The first time he sees her, he casually asks her if she has 'seen the Devil'?, but is given no reply. He sees her once more as she is about to be burnt and gives his reason: 'I want to ask him about God.' What comes next is one of the most powerful images of the film. The witch asks Block what he sees in her eyes? and apart from fear, he sees nothing. No Devil. No God.
  
  In the end, Block does his good deed before his death. Seeing his looming checkmate and defeat at hand, he purposely knocks the pieces of the chessboard to momentarily stop the game whilst the young couple, Jof (Nils Poppe) and Mia (Bibi Andersson) escape. Death asks him 'Did you profit from your respite?', and he replies 'Yes, I did.' With this selfless act he has saved other lives disregarding his own. Thus actually saving his own soul.
  On to the young couple, they have been interpreted as many different things, what their role is in the film and if they are simply a device. Many believe they symbolize the Virgin Mary and Joseph, however I believe not. Bergman clearly says that they do not represent Mary and Joseph, the evidence being, why would Jof have a vision of the Virgin Mary if she was his wife? Jof provides much of the comic relief, the film, although short, his intense and challenges entice you to think. Jof, who appears innocent, clumsy and somewhat stupid, allows us to take a moment from the film and simply laugh. He provides more than this however. He, his wife, and their baby all appear to be innocent and good. They represent the purity in people, and even through the plague, a corrupt society and man's doubt in God and religion, there still are pure people.
  
  In conclusion, I can say that The Seventh Seal is certainly one of the greatest films ever crafted or conceived. The unfathomably well-made script, the wonderful photography (shot by one of Bergman's regulars, Gunnar Fischer), the haunting score, the incredible acting and the powerful message all make The Seventh Seal one of the few stunning films ever to be created back in the 50s and even to present day.
  
  What is the answer to the ever asked question though? Does God exist? Is the idea of a supreme entity a reality? The answer is not black and white, its quite simple...we will never know, not until our time comes. Thus begins the circle again for another generation; ultimately its the journey and our fulfillment of life that reaps the most glory, not the questions about what happens afterwards.

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  November 11, 2009

  SirPant

  Questioning faith and pondering the certainty of death, Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece is hauntingly beautiful, poignant and one of the greatest films ever made.

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  September 18, 2009

  ceWEBrity

  A lovely, thought-provoking film that avoids easy answers. Perhaps the most colorful and complex depiction of religion in film, The Seventh Seal casts Christianity as a scapegoat, a warmonger, a lightning rod, a pillar of unwavering support, and an utterly irrelevant trifle with ...( read more)a collection of elegantly assembled vignettes. As Ebert said, its stance on good and evil makes no exceptions, clearly asserting the division between the two. Many educated people would argue against this notion, but it's the film's simple view of morality and complex arguments against the manifestations thereof that make it so affecting. If the movie is a little over the top in ways that movies of the 50s usually were (monologues, bombastic musical scores, and the like), it compensates with a stirring cinematographic presentation and surprisingly elegant performances.
  
  Deserving of its classic status.

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  July 26, 2009

  ohagankieran

  Ingmar Bergman's dark masterpiece effortlessly sees off the revisionists and the satirists; it is a radical work of art that reaches back to scripture, to Cervantes and to Shakespeare to create a new dramatic idiom of its own. It was released 50 years ago, but it's as fresh as a ...( read more)glass of ice-cold water. Max von Sydow and Gunnar Björnstrand are the ascetic Crusader knight and his cynical squire who return from the wars after 10 years to find their country ravaged with plague and the population panicking about the coming apocalypse. The movie fiercely addresses itself to the agony of belief, the need to believe in a God who remains silent, mysterious, absent. It is a work of art that grabs the audience by the lapels, believers and unbelievers alike, and demands not answers, exactly, but an acknowledgement that this is the most important question, the only question: why does anything exist at all? Even after half a century, The Seventh Seal is an untarnished gold-standard of artistic and moral seriousness.

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  December 16, 2009

  devilsdisciple

  certainly needs a rewatch couldn't understand in first watch review coming soon

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  December 3, 2009

  merillupin

  So many things are happening in this movie that I didn't know what to get out of it. It is brilliant in its surface simplicity, yet significant in its true complexity. If that makes any sense.

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• 
  
  November 26, 2009

  ElCochran90

  "If all is imperfect in this imperfect world, then love is most imperfect in its perfect imperfection."
  
  DET SJUNDE INSEGLET (1957)
  
  Director: Ingmar Bergman
  Country: Sweden
  Genre: Drama / Fantasy
  Length: 96 minute...( read more)s
  
  
  
  Undoubtedly, Ingmar Bergman is one of the most genius, brilliant, allegoric, symbolic, complex and intelligent auters in the entire history of cinema. He was the one who helped Swedish cinema to rise out of the blue and acquire a characteristic style of its own, but it was in the year of 1957 when he received complete international attention through two of his first and most financially successful films: Det Sjunde Inseglet and Smultronstället (1957). Det Sjunde Inseglet immediately belongs to the most superior category of cinema. Its extraordinary inventiveness, visual style and apocalyptic perspective has been several times imitated, but never duplicated. Never before had cinema questioned the true essence of life, the existence of God and the negative consequences of religion towards its society when seen as the opium of the masses in such a straightforward manner. With an extraordinary cast that includes the Swedish cinema legends Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Bengt Ekerot and Gunnar Björnstrand, not to mention one of the scariest and most sensational antagonists ever portrayed in celluloid, Det Sjunde Inseglet has the power to shatter the already established code of ethics, to attack and criticize the monstrous consequences of misleading religion and even to modify the perspective towards life itself.
  
  A man named Antonius Block and his squire return to their homeland from the Crusades only to find the country completely devastated by the infamous Black Plague. In case this wasn't enough, Block has an encounter with Death who tells him that his time is already up. With the mere and obvious purpose of buying time, Block challenges Death to a game of chess that will ultimately decide the fate of the knight while he is given the chance to return to his wife after ten years and to question the meaning of life, the senselessness of death and the very existence of God. Director Ingmar Bergman was nominated for a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival of 1957, which unfairly lost against William Wyler for his film Friendly Persuasion (1956). However, Bergman won the Jury Special Prize, which tied with Andrzej Wajda's Kanal (1957). He also won a Silver Ribbon for Best Director - Foreign Film at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists in the year of 1961.
  
  The title Det Sjunde Inseglet is a direct reference towards the eighth chapter of the Book of Revelations of The Holy Bible, citing the text during the first minutes and just before the shocking, implicit ending. To cite such literary source may imply a context of apocalyptic perdition and existential confusion. The character of Antonius Block, masterly interpreted by Max von Sydow, would be completely remade in Andrey Tarkovsky's timeless, religious masterpiece Andrey Rublyov (1966). He is a man whose faith in God is suddenly shattered into pieces because of the catastrophic environment that always surrounded him. Nonetheless, it is this same environment the one that starts to build and ultimately experience a highly religious way of life. Chapels are being constructed while people suffer a destructive plague which origins remained unknown by that time. The easiest and most logical explanation such degraded and increasingly violent society found for such tragedy was the very plague being a direct punishment of God for the sins of the human being. And so begins the personal journey of self-discovery of Block exactly at the time when, ironically, death has already assured its victory.
  
  Det Sjunde Inseglet possesses an extraordinary cinematographic work by Gunnar Fischer. The camera catches and consequently attracts all of the symbols and elements that beautifully decorate the mysterious and unpredictable development of the plot. From the vast ocean to the interior of the chapels and the breathtaking landscapes through which a group of unusually funny travelling players go through, Block starts to gather pieces of a possible meaning of life that may acquire a more significant meaning if rather strong emotional connections start to be worked on. It is interesting how, throughout decades of moviemaking, directors have given a somewhat surreal and symbolic connotation when travelling players are used as either main or secondary characters. In this case, they serve the mere function of the protagonists' epiphany. One of them swears to have visions of the Virgin Mary while Block is seeing Death, so they could be interpreted as the counterpart of an imminent and unavoidable fate. Despite its relatively short running time, enough character development is offered, visionary sequences, partial surrealism and religious imagery is offered in order to magically expand it. Bergman's direction is absolutely phenomenal and instead of mistakenly resorting to exaggerated grandiloquence, he decided to treat the story with such delicacy that one may even feel that it must be analyzed like the tenderest physical features of a rose.
  
  Det Sjunde Inseglet may also be subject to an escapist analysis. It is an essay on the easily corrupted soul and the most negative outcomes when external facts utterly deteriorate any possible optimistic perspective. Its existentialist subject matter may ultimately lead to either a depressing reaction from the audience or to a cathartic one. Bergman's ethereal and heavenly screenplay, which was also based on his play, contains outstandingly surprising and hidden layers of wisdom. The most typical and somewhat ridiculous faults of the human being are contrasted with what seems to be the end of mankind... or so they perceive it. It also pays a strong attention to detail, from having conversations of the importance of family relationships to the normally devastating hardships of failed romances. The performances are phenomenal, from a comical theatre actor to an idealist, violent, but undeniably charming squire. The film slowly reveals several moments of brilliance, like if the screenplay allowed a gorgeous piece of art to blossom under the influence irradiated by the power of darkness. Such plot is remarkably unpredictable, thus enhancing the power of the final conclusion: eternal wandering and never-ending doom. The philosophical material of the film is overabundant and it has the sheer capacity of strengthening the faith in every single religious man, not to mention a possible questioning of the atheists' point of view and take on life.
  
  Ingmar Bergman has achieved to create one of the best films of all time, but the description doesn't end there. It has been subject to multiple references and critical discussions about the ideas depicted, and although its temporary controversy and its depressing content may pretend to be spiritually dangerous, Det Sjunde Inseglet is arguably the most original and visionary adaptation of the Book of Revelations that introduced the condemnation to every single non-believer person. The character of the Grim Reaper, of course, is not real. It is an illusion of our hopeless attempts to achieve redemption because of our past actions with brand new ones. If we make a list of the things that remain at the end, we would be definitely shocked to see that if such things can be written down, they would be negative and disastrous.
  
  100/100

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  November 25, 2009

  luiser2gh

  This is a Masterpiece, without a doubt!, cada aspecto de esta pelicula es genial, la fotografia impecable, salvo algunos momentos de las actuaciones, pero creo que es debido a la epoca, aun asi esto no me distrajo de lo asombroso de la pelicula. Todo se resume en la genialidad de...( read more) Ingmar Bergman, tanto en su guion el cual esta bellamente escrito, por ocaciones me recuerda a una tragedia de Shakespeare, en realidad es brillante; asi como su direccion, la adaptacion al film de su obra teatral me deja sin palabras, realmente no se que decir para describir esta obra maestra es la perfecta convinacion de intelecto-arte-sentimientos.-

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  October 27, 2009

  TioBradski

  Why aren't the first six seals available on DVD?

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• Ingmar Bergman: "The Seventh Seal" (1957) Trailer (SPOILERS)
• you cant fool mr death
• The Knight's Confession