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"Seventh Seal"

Posted by sjb (A) on April 25, 2007 at 22:28:28

First off, it's the first time I've seen this and it may well have just become my favorite film of all time.

Writing... brilliant! I mean does it get any better than this? And really, the same can be said of the acting, directing, cinematography and editing (not a lot of cuts in this movie but SO many excellent ones).

It is such a compelling story with moments of laugh out loud humor (the scene with the blacksmith and the actor who stole his wife - and the wife - comes to mind), absolute tenderness (Block with the girl about to be burned, Mary and Joseph with each other and their child), epic, almost operatic moments (like the procession of flagellation ... WHAT a scene!!!), witty banter (like the squire and painter sharing their dissilusionment... to paraphrase... "The Crusades are so stupid they could only have been though of by an idealist."), incredible depth and very serious digs at religious and human hypocricy without hitting us over the head (like the young girl being escorted by soldiers as she is taken to be burned and the squire being told to stay back for fear of the devil and him saying... again, to paraphrase... "You eight men must be very brave."

I feel the key line may have been when Antonius knew his time was truly about to end and queried death to see if that meant he (death) would finally share his knowledge and death said "I am unknowing"

I say this may be the key line because the answer could have been "not" knowing (or something similar) but "un" knowing means, to me at least, undoing the knowledge you have or think you have because said "knowledge" is actually a barrier to the truth and or the divine (this is a common theme in eastern religious traditions). As such it could mean that Bergman was acknowledging that the quest for this kind of "knowledge" is fruitless and can be crazy making but that to surrender to death to undoing knowledge (to surrender to the mystery... to not knowing) is a - if not the - key to salvation.

I will ceratinly see this again before returning it and may have to purchase it (if so it would be my first non documentary/non concert dvd purchase).

Don't piss on my shoe and tell me it's raining.

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