Sjunde inseglet, Det (The Seventh Seal)(1957)
| Drama,Fantasy
Sweden / Swedish
A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
|
Intelligent and accessible with incredible imagery
'I live now in a world of ghosts, a prisoner in my dreams', a line
spoken by Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow) in 'The Seventh Seal' is also
a good descriptor of this critically lauded film. Directed by Ingmar
Bergman, the film explores, through an allegorical fashion, human
relationships and the struggle with ones own psyche. Block is a knight
on his way home from the Crusades who becomes increasingly
disillusioned while surveying his country, which has been ravaged by
the Black Plague. Along the way he avers that he doesn't care about
anyone, and questions the existence of a God who could allow these
things to happen. In the beginning of the film he meets Death, who
informs him that it is his time. Block manages to push off Death for a
little while by distracting him with a chess game while he travels
home; encountering several different characters, but Death is always
following close behind until the inevitable end of the game.
Bergman's style is not straight forward, rather quite symbolic and
philosophical. The imagery at times is astounding, and I still (a month
after seeing the film for the first time) see the image of 'the dance
with Death' in my head when I think of the film. However, what I
discovered was that this film carries with it a lot of intellectual and
philosophical baggage that is not necessarily warranted. Nothing is
really spelled out in this film, but it was much more easily
'accessible' than I thought it would be; I assumed I would have to put
on my 'Affected Art House' hat on to watch it and nothing could be
farther from the truth. Steeped in beautiful irony, the film, while
having the pervasive specter of Death hanging over it, really
celebrates life through its characters and their unusual circumstances.
It is truly unfortunate that the powerful image of man playing chess
with Death has become such a cliché, and oft repeated in some
ridiculous manner or another. Bergman directed a thought-provoking and
beautiful film with 'The Seventh Seal', and I personally look forward
to seeing it again, this time not to grasp the story, but to marvel at
the incredible images. I would recommend this film to anyone, but I
especially highly recommend it to those who consider themselves
students of film – it will give you a lot to chew on. 8/10
--Shelly
