The Seventh Seal [1957]

And as usual, my ability to update this blog with any consistency shows that I am made of fail. In all honestly, I had been trying to avoid movies made before 1965 as a way of keeping myself from feeling guilty about not updating. The fact is, I need a better format so I can more easily update without having to spend forever taking screen shots so that I will update more often. That experiment starts here.



So, what can I say about The Seventh Seal? It's one of the most famous Swedish films ever made by the most famous Swedish director ever. If you ask anyone on the street to name a Swedish director they will either stare at you blankly or say, "Ingmar Bergman" (or they might say "Ingrid Bergman" but she was a Swedish actress whose name is unfortunately similar). Bergman is Sweden's Kurosawa, Kubrick, Fellini and feel free to argue that I just overstated any of those directors' significances. I never claimed to be a film scholar.

Also, while I'm claiming ignorance I would like to point out that my knowledge of Swedish film is minimal, especially when compared to my knowledge of well, pretty much every other notable-film-producing country. My exposure to Swedish film boils down to these three things:

1.) Let The Right One In was a great movie.
2.) I've seen all the Millennium Trilogy movies. The first was the best.
3.) Ingmar Bergman is the most famous Swedish director and he has made quite a lot of films including Persona, Through a Glass Darkly, and The Seventh Seal.

One thing I recently heard about Bergman's films might be at least partially an explanation for his international fame: he makes movies that aren't about Sweden but are about people. This quality of universality seems to be prevalent in internationally known directors. Even if you look at how Kurosawa made a lot of movies involving samurai, a traditionally Japanese thing, a lot of his samurai films were remade into Westerns in the Western world with otherwise very little about them changed.

The Seventh Seal's universal theme is the idea of facing your mortality and as a result, doubt in one's religious faith. When the film was made in the 50s this was likely a very relevant idea as it has been for hundreds of years. However, when you look at the film through the eyes of today, I find that I don't see it as topical anymore. Perhaps it is just my limited scope of the world but in the past it seemed that a good amount of the population was very religiously devoted almost out of obligation which is why so many people would suffer a crisis of faith like the main character, Antonius, does in this film. You were pulled into religion by your family or your society without ever giving you a real chance to question and explore whether or not the ideas seemed real to you. It was accepted as truth without much further thought for most or all of your life.

Nowadays it seems like people are starkly divided between those who have unwavering faith and those who have no faith. This does not mean there is not some in between area such as people who have no faith but want there to be an afterlife and people who have faith but may question or fear the exact structure of the afterlife they will enter. However, a crisis of faith in the modern world is rare. If you believe, you always believe. If you don't, you won't be convinced otherwise.

For Bergman, this movie seems very personal. His father was a Luthern priest who raised him on his beliefs and while Bergman says he stopped having faith at age eight, it took many years for him to cope with this idea. This movie shows that struggle very clearly in the behaviors of his characters, especially Antonius.

While I do question the relevance of the religious themes to a modern audience, the film is a great example of what those ideas were like in a time when religious devotion was so strong that some had to question it, the Black Plague, while still having been significant to an audience of the 50s. Also, the related themes of mortality and fear of death will always be important no matter what year you watch this movie. That, Bergman's superb direction, and all the iconic scenes that have been parodied one hundred times over will always make this film one that will always be a great work of art.

So by now it should be clear that this is a pretty serious movie but it is actually not without its comedy moments either. In the interest of simplicity, I will break down the plot quickly for those who have already seen it or who like to be spoiled beforehand. Expect silliness as I also can only be serious for so long. So here's "The Seventh Seal" a.k.a. "Road Trips, Chess Games, and Uninvited Dinner Guests."

The film starts with our protagonist, Antonius Block (that's not him), lying by the water side with his squire, Jons, and a chessboard after just coming home from the Crusades to hear that Sweden has been ravaged with the Plague. If you happen to be well versed in medieval times you might already be seeing the ingredients in the anachronism soup. There was a gap of time between the Crusades and the Black Plague in Sweden but Bergman seemed to forsake the particulars of history in favor of combining many comparative ideas that apply to the theme: a war based on religious holy lands and a disease that the religious populous thought to be divine punishment.

During their time lying in the sand, Antonius looks up to see a creepy dude with no eyebrows and a black monk-like robe standing before him. He identifies himself to be Death and says that he has been at his side for a long time. Antonius claims to be unafraid but before Death can claim him, he challenges him to a chess match, the terms being that as long as the game is going on he can live but that if he is defeated, Death can claim him. By totally random happenstance, Death is the black pieces.

The scene then cuts to Antonius and Jons, his squire, riding into town. Jons is the bitterly realistic comic relief sidekick as shown by his tendency to sing songs he made up about banging sluts and how Satan is with us. He asks a dead body for direction and is surprisingly chill by the man's lack of eyes. The man is a little too dead to answer but Jons says that he was very informative. Hint: plague.

They end up going past a caravan full of a performance troupe and the focus switches to them: the horny leader, Skat, and a happily married average guy, hot girl couple of Jof and Mia with their son Mikeal. Jof has visions of the Christ child. Mia thinks he's delightfully quirky.

On their first stop in town Jons encounters a painter painting a mural of the danse macabre and hears about how the Plague has brought on a bunch of people who whip themselves to try to show God that they are punishing themselves enough to have the plague removed. He talks bitterly but almost amused about how the Crusades are a useless endeavor. Antonius goes to confession about his religious doubts and fear of death, confessing to the priest that he is battling Death and reveals his strategy. Surprise! Death was in the confessional. Sneaky bastard.

On their way out they see a woman who will be burned to death for hanging with Satan*. More anachronism soup. Antonius asks the woman to arrange a meeting between him and the devil but she's too wonked out to give details.

Jons goes into a barn and sees a thief stealing jewels from a dead body. A woman comes inside and he threatens her so Jons jumps out and saves the day. He threatens to slice up the thief if he sees him again and tells the mute woman to be grateful for him valiantly not raping her and instead asks her to come along as his housekeeper. Their first road trip companion is on board!

During one of the stage troupe's performances, Skat runs off into the woods with some wench because his desire for nookie is stronger than his desire for money apparently. Then the show is interrupted by a procession of flagellants and monks pleading forgiveness. Buzzkill.
It looks kind of like crucified Jesus is holding back Jof and Mia from the priest giving the doom and gloom sermon. Weird foreshadowing?

After complaining that the procession was deary, Captain Obvious a.k.a. Jons gets asked by a smith named Plog if he has seen his wife who ran off with an actor. Inside the tavern he ends up asking Jof the same thing which leads to a showdown between the two of them and the thief from earlier who got himself involves for no reason. Jons comes in to break up the ruckus and cuts up the thief's face like he promised.

Antonius finds Mia and chats about her performance before Jof comes in and she treats his wounds. Jons and mute girl show up looking for Antonius and they all have a picnic and decide to be BFFs and road trip together.
Plog, having nothing better to do, decides to come along and they let him because they really need a fat, stupid guy to help round out their quirky cast.

Not long after they've left they see Skat and his hoe walking through the woods. Plog chases after him and Skat tries to defend the honor of Kunigunda, as she realistically told him her name was. Plog identifies her as "Rumpy, smutty, slutty Lisa", his wife. In spite of him calling her a tramp and a strumpet, she goes back to him and Skat hides in a tree. Death comes along and cuts down the tree while Skat asks desperately if there are exceptions for actors. This is the world before shows like "ET"; actors don't get exceptions from Death EVER, if anything they are bigger targets.

Jons is clearly unamused by Lisa's apology.

Casualties: 1 + everyone dead of plague
Road Trippers: 7

Antonius: The conflicted, kind but inactive protagonist.
Jons: The realist, bitter comic side kick.
Mute Girl: The eye candy/fetish fuel.
Jof & Mia: The jovial mismatched happy couple.
Plog: The fat, stupid one.
Lisa: The skank.

Wednesdays on Fox. 9/8 Central.

They run into the executors carrying off the witch girl from earlier and Antonius and Jons help so Antonius can ask her again if he can meet the devil and ask him about God. He quickly realizes that she is just crazy and mercifully gives her some pain killers before they burn her. They watch in morbid fascination as the fear of death finally crosses over her face and then leave to go make a campfire.

Their rendition of "Kumbaya" is interrupted by the thief from earlier showing up riddled with plague and asking for some water. Mute girl tries to give him some but Jons stops her and reminds her of the rule about not being a hero.

Death shows up to play chess with Antonius again. Jof can see Death but Mia insists that he is playing against himself. They start to sneak away and in an effort to do something significant before his inevitable death, Antonius knocks over the pieces to distract Death while they escape. And this is right after Death said nothing escapes him. While that's true in the long run, it seems that for now Jof, Mia, and Mikeal may be safe.

Death puts the pieces back in order and checkmates Antonius, saying that the next time they meet, he will take him.

The remaining trippers finally get to Antonius' castle, their final destination** and meet his rather stern wife, Karin, alone in the house since all the servants have run for it. The air around them is bleak and plaguey.

They all settle down for an awkward dinner party while Karin reads the verse from the Bible about the seventh seal that was said in the beginning of the film. Appropriate since they believe they are experiencing the Apocalypse. Then the worst thing ever happens: an uninvited guest shows up and they don't have enough meat to go around! He informs him that it's a Mr. Death here for something about the reaping*** and they all look at him in fearful awe except for mute girl who happily kneels before him. Apparently she had more backstory than we knew about.

When Jof and Mia wake up the next morning, Jof sees them with Death playing a game of crack the whip. He tells her he's seeing the dance of death of their friends and she tells him he's silly but Jof knows all great movies**** end with a dance party.

So anyway, Seventh Seal is a pretty great movie. If you are a camerawork nerd you will love Bergman's mise-en-scene, a philosophy/theology/lit nerd you'll love the theme, and just a regular person (*scoff*) you'll love the plot, characters, and bits of weird comedy.

Go rent it or else Death will come visit you and you'll have to play a game with him. I don't know if he takes requests but here's an idea.


* possibly more than hanging.
** I so clever.
*** Monty Python's Meaning of Life
**** Well, all Dreamworks movies which range from pretty good to dreadful. Although The Prisoner ended with a dance party and it was an amazing show.

The Life Of Oharu [1952]

Also now in the Japanese as 西鶴一代女 or for those of you who don't just randomly know how to read kanji Saikaku Ichidai Onna which in my shoddy translation is something like "Saikaku Age Woman." Saikaku was a famous author in the Edo period (1600-1868) and this movie is based off of various stories in his The Life of an Amorous Woman.

Now before I talk about this specific movie I'm going to talk about the golden age of Japanese cinema first. Being a Japanese minor I know a thing or two about Japanese culture and amongst my Japanese Women Writers class in my last semester I became known as the expert in Japanese films because I have seen A LOT so this is something I'm really passionate about.

First of all, it seems every country has an era usually earlier on in the beginning of film history that is viewed as their golden era:

Germany was one of the first making some of the country's most praised films in the 20s and 30s with such directors as F. W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, Pabst, and even Leni Riefenstahl and probably starting with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in 1919.

Hollywood's golden age ranges from the 20s to the early 60s (probably the reason for the time constraints in this blog) and pretty much started with The Jazz Singer in 1927.

I know less about the cinemas of France and Italy but Italy appeared to be really big from the 40s to the 60s with their neorealism movement and directors ranging from De Sica to Fellini. France seemed in its prime in the 50s and 60s during the French New Wave. In the UK there was also the British New Wave around this time period.

The film industries in other countries aren't as often seen as having times of greatness as those above so much as they are seen as having a few really profound directors or films that are appreciated internationally. I think  Sweden was really notable in the 50s as well and I know China had a big boom rather recently in the 90s and early 00s but I'm not really knowledgeable enough to comment.

Japan, like most of the countries mentioned above, produced most of its classic films in the 50s and 60s, probably starting around No Regrets For Our Youth by Akira Kurosawa in 1946 right after the end of WW2. During this time there were three really great directors: Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, and Kenji Mizoguchi.

Kurosawa is easily the most well known Japanese director internationally and in his homeland his name is occasionally written in katakana, the writing system used for foreign names, to represent how his "Western" style of film-making. I have yet to find out for sure if this is a compliment, an insult, or simply a commentary.
Some of Kurosawa's biggest films were his period films including The Seven Samurai [1954], Yojimbo [1961], Ran [1985], and Rashomon [1950] (one of my personal favorites) but he has made many modern films as well.
Kurosawa takes a lot of influence from Western works by Shakespeare (Throne of Blood [1957] is Macbeth) and Tolstoy and actually made films up until his death in the 90s. Many of his films have also had Western adaptions (Fistful of Dollars is a direct remake of Yojimbo that was not made with any sort of permission).
Also of note is that Kurosawa often worked with the famous actor Toshiro Mifune (who I will profess my love for at another time) and they pretty much had a Burton/Depp kind of relationship going on. He also worked a lot with Takashi Shimura.
If you have never seen a Kurosawa film, go watch one. He's made tons.

Ozu is probably the second most well known and his claim to fame involves making movies about the modern family with themes such as trying to marry off your daughter or how a family structure holds together in the modern world. He established what is known as the "Tatami shot" a camera angle perfectly in line with someone sitting on a tatami mat, looking directly into the camera.
His most famous films are probably Tokyo Story [1953], Late Spring [1949], and An Autumn Afternoon [1962].
One of the main things I remember hearing about him was when asked by actress Haruko Sugimura what her motivation was for a scene he pretty much replied with, "The paycheck you'll be getting." He also liked the sauce and people leave bottles of alcohol on his grave.
Like Kurosawa, Ozu had an actor he was rather attached to who ended up in a lot of his films, Setsuko Hara, who is generally seen as the actress who represents the golden era of Japanese cinema and bares the nickname "The Eternal Virgin" as she often played unmarried women and herself never married. She appeared in two of the films I listed above and often ended up playing characters named Noriko for some odd reason. After Ozu died, Hara stopped acting and became something of a recluse. She's actually still alive at 91 and in 2001 the animated film Millennium Actress by Satoshi Kon (R.I.P.) was loosely based on her.

Mizoguchi, who directed this film, is most famous for his long takes, scene composition, and the fact that he was seen as a feminist director even though you might not see the feminism in his films nowadays. I always say that the woman in a Mizoguchi film will always end up a prostitute by the end which is usually true.
Some of Mizoguchi's most famous films include Ugetsu [1953], Sansho The Bailiff [1954], and The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums [1939]. Like Kurosawa, he is most famous for his period films.
Although I would not necessarily say that Mizoguchi had a special actor like Kurosawa and Ozu, the lead actress in this film, Kinuyo Tanaka, does appear in many of his films.

Now, with what I have said in mind about unhappy, prostitute-y endings, let's start Life of Oharu, the story of a woman who nothing ever goes right for.

I'm not gonna lie. I probably chose to do this movie because lately, I've been seriously feeling like Oharu.

The title card that appears to be on a fan.

Our movie starts with a woman wandering around with her face shielded slightly by a piece of cloth. It should be safe to assume this is Oharu.

She meets her friends and they all joke about how difficult it is to find clients (johns) when you are old. Prostitution from the get go!

They all huddle around a fire and one of the prostitutes asks Oharu how she ended up as a prostitute but she is dismissive.

After their party is broken up, Oharu wanders into a temple with an assload of Buddhas. They judge her silently.

Suddenly one of the Buddhas is attacked by a superimposition of Toshiro Mifune with a topknot and Oharu is pleased.

OMG, this movie takes place in JAPAN? I had no idea.

We are now in flashback mode.

A younger Oharu meets with a man who asks why she has not written a poem back to one of her potential suitors who has written to her. For a while in Japan, writing haiku back and forth and being able to write good verse was a big deal as it was pretty much the method of flirting.

Oharu is stated to be the daughter of an imperial guard which gives her a decent station.

Note the man in the plaid.

Plaidy goes to catch her paladin before she leaves and asks her to meet his master at a certain place and time. Since the servant didn't actually talk to his master before telling her this, it's clear the master does not know this.

The servant goes to her and asks her why she didn't return his poem saying that although his verse is unrefined, his intentions are pure. At first, Oharu is reluctant, claiming she tore up his letter without reading it and telling him to leave her alone.

He's a little persistent.

For the reference, this kind of role is really not common for Mifune. Usually he plays really wild characters who's goal is kicking ass to help people. Even when he is playing this love-struck servant, his energy level is still through the roof.

Also, it's weird to see him with a topknot because usually he's in either a modern film or a Muromachi or Heian era film where they aren't necessary. And because no matter how many topknots I see, they will always look awkward.

Oharu then admits that she did read the letter and that she reciprocates the feelings but that they can't be together because of their different stations.

Then she collapses. You will realize soon that this is kind of her thing.

Oh snap. They are caught together.

At least their robes were on. Oh, scandal!

Oharu is tried for wanton behavior with a servant and banished along with her parents for "not supervising her well."

This is awful to say I know but is it just me or are Oharu and her mother the same age?

They start living in a fairly good sized shack in the woods. Her father rubs salt in the wounds. His main function in this story is to be kind of a jerk.

Mifune (his character name is too long; something like Kananosuke) doesn't get off so easily. Before he is decapitated he leaves a letter for Oharu about how he wishes that she will live a happy life and get married to a man she loves.

Bye, Mifune. Now go make some more Kurosawa films where you're a badass.

Oharu gets Mifune's letter and proceeds to run into the woods saying she wants to die. Her mom talks her out of it and she falls over in grief. Again.

An old messenger of the daimyo (essentially a lord in the Edo-period) comes into town seeking a concubine for him. He couldn't find one around where the Lord lives so he came to Kyo because he heard they have beautiful women there.

The Lord has an insane list of physical details that the women most possess including but not limited to, "not small eyes, thick eyebrows, small mouth and feet, long torso, white teeth, etc." He also has an actual drawing. Apparently the love of 2-dimensional ideals in Japan has been around for a while. [/I'mgoingtohell]

I don't know if you can really tell in this picture but that old guy is wearing glasses circa 1686. Awesome.

Let's go a-whore hunting!

Shit. All defective.

Around the corner from where the messenger is staying there is a man who gives dancing and music lessons to girls from respectable families.

Note those two guys leering through the laundry. Leering at girls is kind of a thing in ancient Japan (and current [/didImentionI'mgoingtohell?].

Seeing Oharu, they pull her out of the lesson and declare her to be exactly what the Lord wants.

It looks kind of like the messenger is trying to glomp her in this shot.

Oharu's parents try to talk her into going as becoming a concubine will make her a court lady and will actually be a step up in the world. Oharu doesn't want to sleep with a man she has never met because she is reasonable.

She gets a medical examination that shows she will be good for making babies.

Is it just me or do those screens seem to not be serving much of a purpose since everyone in the room is in there and there doesn't appear to be much more to the room?

Oharu meets the damiyo's wife and is very embarrassed by her new position.

Living in this time would have sucked for one solid reason: hair that long would be a pain in the ass.

Here. Have a symbolic puppet play.

NOT AT ALL TENSE.

Oharu gives birth. This should secure her position as a court lady indefinitely.

Right away her baby is taken away from her and she is not allowed to feed him.

So she falls over in sadness. Again.

I wish I could say there was some big cultural significance to all this falling over thing but there really isn't. I have never seen a movie with this much falling over.

I'm pretty sure this isn't how it's usually done.

Her dad is not pleased with what happened.

And to add insult to injury, he sent her away with virtually no compensation.

Her dad, thinking that she would make him tons of money as a concubine, did not prepare for this contingency.

He decides that Oharu should go to Shimabara and become a prostitute there and make the money to pay off the loan.

Potential Father of the Year candidate?

While there a man comes in with tons of money that he literally throws around for fun. He may as well be shouting, "Dance! Dance!" as they crawl around on the floor.

When Oharu doesn't scramble around on the floor picking up the coins they ask her why not. She says that she will not lower herself to such behavior and walks out only to have one of her bosses scold her for being so rude.

When he threatens to throw her out and thus, prevent her from finding work elsewhere, she grovels.

The tides change quickly when they learn that the rich dude wants to purchase her and they beg her to go with him.

Before anything happens, the police show up and arrest the rich man for forgery.

Check out the awesome scene composition here.

Oharu goes back to her family again and while walking around outside she encounters a woman on the street playing a shamisen and singing a song that presumably would mostly be known by the upper class. Surprised that she knows the song, she gives her money and talks to the woman, finding out she used to be a courtesan as well.

Foreshadowing much?

Oharu then gets a job working as a maid/assistant type thing to another family. The wife tells her that her main job will be doing her hair. Before she starts the wife makes her sign a document of secrecy which Oharu does without questioning it.

It's a trap!

The secret turns out to be that after an illness the wife lost a lot of hair so she needs Oharu to style it to cover up her baldness so her husband will still be attracted to her.

Bad touch, other servant.

A man visiting the husband recognizes Oharu from Shimabara which is a problem because apparently she left her brief stint as a whore off her resume.

When the wife hears about it she is convinced that her husband purchased her to be a whore as well and gets mad at her . . .

. . . and cuts off her hair in a fit of rage. Clearly this woman has a complex.

To get revenge, Oharu sends a cat to steal the fake hair off the wife's head. That is one smart puppet cat.

After being fired, Oharu ends up working at a fan shop and marrying the owner. They look happy don't they? If you think this will work out, you have terrible pattern recognition skills.

Yep.

Oharu gets a new life plan.

When a loan collector demands her unpaid-for robes back, she goes to strip them off behind a screen and he attacks her. The nun walks in at the wrong time and kicks her out of the nunnery.

She runs into a guy who used to work for her dad, I think, who also has no where else to go so they run away together.

He gets carted off for reasons I seriously don't know because at this point the movie is on speed and Oharu takes up street shamisen playing. Foreshadowing was right.

Looking sick, she is taken in by two women who turn out to be prostitutes, but not the kind who live in a big house together with a pimp and stuff, the regular street walking kind.

And we have come full circle. But if you think her story is over, you are very wrong.

She ends up getting purchased by a man who is leading a group on a pilgrimage (monks, perhaps?). The man doesn't want to have sex with her however, she just wants to make an example of her to the men by insulting her and making them all look at her painted face that is trying so hard to hide her age.

Also, goblin cat is an awesome insult. I need to try that one.

Back in the temple the other girls all try to see faces of people they know in the Buddhas with great amusement and positive attitudes.

Oharu falls over again. This time it's actually a physical illness and not just the melodrama bug.

Seemingly on her death bed her mom comes to visit, saying that her father is dead but that he never forgot her.

She also informs her that her son, the son of the daimyo, wants to meet his mother and reinstate her as a court lady.

When she gets there, however, they find out about her past as a street walker and a Shimabara prostitute and tell her that she cannot live there.

She tries to catch her son's attention but his guards won't let her get near him.

So she becomes a beggar woman.

Is the moral of this story don't fall in love?

So this movie is really depressing, probably the most depressing of Mizoguchi's films and very fast-paced but it is rather interesting. However, I would sooner recommend one of the other Mizoguchi films I mentioned in this article because they are less . . . slit-your-wrist-y.

For the most part.