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."
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.
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!
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.
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 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.
