The Seventh Seal
Ingmar Bergman
Initial release: February 16, 1957 (Sweden)
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| images c/o Criterion |
For most of its existence, film as a medium hasn't always been respected as an art form by those who wish to seem intellectual. Derided as mere popcorn fare, entertainment for the masses, film is seen as something lesser compared to, say, theater. For all their subjective individual merits, films like Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal exist to prove the value of the medium. Stark, existentialist, and somewhat baffling, Ingmar Bergman's iconic treatise on mortality, disease and faith builds on theater traditions but is nonetheless a triumph of film.
A knight, Block, returns from the crusades to find Europe ravaged by the plague. As he and his squire rest on the beach, he is approached by the personification of Death (all in black with a pale, white face) and, not ready to die yet, challenges Death to a game of chess. As chess can be a long game, and he has things to do, they play the game in sessions over the following day. He goes about his business in the meantime, witnessing the effects of the plague on society while ruminating on his doubts as to the existence of God and the afterlife. Most of the film revolves around the squire, Jons, who’s more on the ball than Block is, and a traveling troupe of actors, led by a man named Joseph (Jof in the original Swedish script) who can see supernatural figures. In between, Block struggles with his need for answers.
A running theme of the film (similar to the much later Black Death)
is the religious response to the plague. A nameless woman is condemned
to death for supposedly bringing the plague to the village; later that
night the cast comes across soldiers carrying out her execution. Block
approaches her, and asks how he can meet the devil, reasoning that if
he exists, he might know where to find God. She tells him to look into
his eyes and tell her what he sees, but he only sees her terror — and
thus, no answers.
The
film portrays Joseph (who sees the Virgin Mary as well as Death) and
Block (who only sees Death) as two sides of the same coin, both seeing
supernatural figures, but makes no effort to uplift one or the other as
being the “right” philosophical outlook. Block is gloomy and pessimistic; Joseph abides on his pure, simple faith and his pure, simple
marriage (contrasted with the more contentious relationship between the
smith and his wife later on.) Though the ending seems to emphasize Joseph
being the real protagonist of the film, or, failing that, a voice for
the audience, Bergman's intent is clear: Death is inevitable, as surely in this film as it is in life,
and can only be warded off for so long.
The Seventh Seal is a lot of things, but its greatest triumph is as a checkmate for film as art.