#15 - The Seventh Seal (1957)

[NSpan]

Recommended Movie-Club Sandwich: Wild Strawberries (1957)

[NSpan]

One of the greatest films ever made. The only criticism I have against it is at times it feels a little like a stage play. But there is no film I've seen that deals with the theme of death (and most importantly, the point of life in relation to it) in such an in-depth and honest manner.

anyone catch this on bluray yet? i hear the Criterion transfer is pretty stunning

[becs]

This and several other movie club selections have become recently available on netflix instant so I finally got around to watching.

One of the greatest films ever made. The only criticism I have against it is at times it feels a little like a stage play.

I found it really difficult to follow at the beginning because of this, it feels very broken up into scenes that don't so much flow fluidly together like you would have with scene changes on stage. The second half was alot better, specifically I found the scene of death cutting down the tree and the very matter of fact conversation in that scene to be one of the most memorable moments.

Jonas Skat: Hey, you scurvy knave, what are you doing with my tree? You might at least answer. Who are you?
Death: I'm felling your tree. Your time is up.
Jonas Skat: You can't. I haven't time.
Death: So you haven't time?
Jonas Skat: No. My performance...
Death: Cancelled... because of Death.

The other really impactful moment is the scene just before they hoist the girl over the fire.
Other than the difficulty to follow the story, the script is incredibly good, dark but good. If I hadn't be struggling to keep up I would even say it had quite a lot of comedy.

[numbersix]

Becs, I wonder if your problem about not keeping up isn't so much a problem in the film, but in watching foreign cinema in general. I know that I've had plenty of problems keeping up with more complex foreign films just because of the problem of missing something visually because I'm glancing over subtitles. I always try to rewatch foreign films I've liked just so I can take in everything.

[becs]

its possible, it just seemed so disjointed that I was often left wondering what was going on and wound back the scene to see if I had missed something but hadn't. I do watch a lot of foreign films but most of them are newer, so maybe its a difference of older foreign film.

[NSpan]

reading John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" provided me with a newfound appreciation for Bergman's approach and story-structure in The Seventh Seal

[becs]

Really? I wouldn't have related the two at all, I have read Pilgrims Progress in multiple formats about 100 times... But I guess I can see the comparison,PP doesn't have an altogether natural flow due to being a dream sequence which could be similar..

[numbersix]

I wouldn't be surprised if Bergman was very-much influenced by The Pilgrim's Progress, having voaciously read many religious texts and tales throughout his life. The Seventh Seal is also quite similar to the play Everyman. Bergman's relationship with God and religion is explored even more in a trilogy of films (Winter Light, Through a Glass Darkly, and The Silence)