Review: The Seventh Seal
Reviewed by Ivana Redwine


Length: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated

The release in 1957 of The Seventh Seal almost immediately established Swedish writer-director Ingmar Bergman as one of the most important filmmakers in the world. Using stunning visual imagery and theatrical dialogue, the movie explores philosophical issues such as the silence of God and man's search for the meaning of life. Although much of the film deals with the inevitability of death, I find the movie always leaves me feeling hopeful rather than despairing.

Taking its title from Revelation 8:1 in the New Testament, The Seventh Seal is set in medieval Scandinavia. As the film opens, two men are seen waking up on a rocky seashore. We soon learn that one of them is a pious, idealistic Knight (Max von Sydow) and the other is his atheistic, pragmatic Squire (Gunnar Bjornstrand). After ten years as Crusaders in the Holy Land, the weary men are nearing the end of their long journey home. But a pall hangs over their homecoming: Their homeland is being ravaged by a Black Plague epidemic that will kill one out of every three people.

While preparing to ride on, the Knight glances up and sees what looks like a very pale-faced man (Bengt Ekerot) dressed entirely in black. "Who are you?" asks the Knight. "I am Death," comes the reply. "You have come for me?" asks the Knight, to which Death responds, "I have been at your side for a long time."

At first Death appears to be ready to take the Knight immediately, but by challenging Death to a game of chess, the Knight gets a temporary reprieve. Later in the film we come to realize that the Knight has no expectation of escaping Death: He hopes only that by gaining a little extra time he will have the opportunity to perform at least one meaningful act before dying.

During a break in the chess game, the Knight and his Squire ride their horses inland toward home. They soon pass a covered wagon, inside which lies sleeping a charming young married couple (Nils Poppe and Bibi Andersson). The young marrieds have an infant son, and Bergman commentators often refer to this trio as the "holy family." In the English subtitles, the names of the young couple are given as Joseph and Mary, but they are called Jof and Mia in the Swedish dialogue and the dubbed English dialogue.

Joseph and Mary are traveling entertainers, and as we watch this cheerful couple play with their baby in the sunlit woods, it is obvious that they are delighted with life in general and with each other in particular. I think the inclusion of the characters of Joseph and Mary in The Seventh Seal was a clever way for Bergman to keep his movie from becoming too downbeat. After all, this is an allegorical film exploring life's meaning in the context of death's inevitability, a pretty glum topic. But the presence of this couple provides the necessary counterpoints of hope, life, happiness, and joy.

Having continued their journey, the Knight and the Squire arrive at an isolated church. Inside, the Knight seeks to be absolved of his sins through confession. Glimpsing a cloaked figure behind a grating, the Knight begins, "I want to confess as best I can, but my heart is void. The void is a mirror. I see my face and feel loathing and horror. My indifference to men has shut me out." But before leaving the church, the Knight discovers that the cloaked figure to whom he has confessed his selfishness is not a priest as he had assumed; instead, he has been speaking with Death.

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