The Seventh Seal (1957)
Year: 1957
Country: Sweden
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Criterion Spine Number: 11
Reviewed: April 2014
Country: Sweden
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Criterion Spine Number: 11
Reviewed: April 2014
The Seventh Seal is a movie I’ve often heard about, being something of an Ingmar Bergman fan (despite having only seen Through A Glass Darkly and Persona previously) and I was really looking forward to finally seeing this movie. I was expecting a solemn, surreal film about a man playing chess against Death to save his life. Basically, I was expecting something very, very depressing but incredibly thought-provoking. What I found most striking when viewing The Seventh Seal was that it wasn’t really all that depressing. It deals with complex and difficult themes, such as the loss of faith and our place in the greater scheme of things, but avoids being truly depressing by focussing on the vibrancy of life. It’s frequently very funny, thanks in particular to the likable squire, and just filled with moments of quiet charm and wonder at the seemingly mundane. One of the best scenes features the knight sitting down to a small picnic with a young family. It’s simply shot and incredibly warm and memorable. The knight puts emphasis on the scene by reflecting that it is the memory of the beautiful perfection of this moment that will keep him strong, a recognisable part of the human condition. We’ve all got one moment where everything just seemed so wonderful and we use that to inspire us. It’s a fairly common Bergman idea, that some moments are perfect and memorable, despite seeming small (there’s a similar scene in Persona where a woman recounts a long and detailed sexual encounter), which challenges the common perception of the director’s work as solemn and melancholy. While that is certainly a part of The Seventh Seal’s considerable appeal (one of the most famous scenes featuring the Knight talking about his lost faith in a church is stunning), Bergman’s films are successful because, while they may seem depressing, they feature moments of incredible spiritual uplift. And, in fact, the final scene of The Seventh Seal manages to be both hopeful and melancholy. So much has been said about The Seventh Seal, that’s it hard to find something new and original to say, so I’m not even going to try. A true, true masterpiece.
Best Scene: Death and the Knight play chess on the beach (because it's iconic)
Overall Verdict: 10
Overall Verdict: 10