Det Sjunde Inseglet
I watched The Seventh Seal the other night and really dug it. For a crazy slow paced Swedish movie from 1957 it has a lot to offer.
I met Death today. We are playing chess.
On the surface are the visuals: Death playing chess with a man (trivia fact: This is where Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey got its ideas), medieval scenery with more sincerity than a renaissance faire and of course the striking contrasting black and white cinematography (Death is a sight to behold).
Beneath the surface lies where this film strikes me the most. The inevitability of death. The meaninglessness of life and death. The simplicity of pleasure (its strawberries and cream I tell you!). But it is also about one man's journey of spiritual discovery, beginning with his desire to believe in God and that he is there but ultimately doesn't feel His presence. He stuggles with a desire to feel God's presence to reassure him life is meaningful.
Faith is a torment. It is like loving someone who is out there in the darkness but never appears, no matter how loudly you call.
I relate to his suffering and his relation to men:
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. I live now in a world of ghosts, a prisoner in my dreams.
Ultimately he is unwilling to believe in reality where Death is tangible, but God and the goodness He is, is not. The turning point is the compassion of Jof and his family, the bowl of strawberries and milk. It will be a sign to me, and a great sufficiency. They show him the reality of compassion long since lost on him (he spent most of his life in the futility of the Crusades).
If you have a chance to watch this movie, DO IT!
I met Death today. We are playing chess.
On the surface are the visuals: Death playing chess with a man (trivia fact: This is where Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey got its ideas), medieval scenery with more sincerity than a renaissance faire and of course the striking contrasting black and white cinematography (Death is a sight to behold).
Beneath the surface lies where this film strikes me the most. The inevitability of death. The meaninglessness of life and death. The simplicity of pleasure (its strawberries and cream I tell you!). But it is also about one man's journey of spiritual discovery, beginning with his desire to believe in God and that he is there but ultimately doesn't feel His presence. He stuggles with a desire to feel God's presence to reassure him life is meaningful.
Faith is a torment. It is like loving someone who is out there in the darkness but never appears, no matter how loudly you call.
I relate to his suffering and his relation to men:
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. I live now in a world of ghosts, a prisoner in my dreams.
Ultimately he is unwilling to believe in reality where Death is tangible, but God and the goodness He is, is not. The turning point is the compassion of Jof and his family, the bowl of strawberries and milk. It will be a sign to me, and a great sufficiency. They show him the reality of compassion long since lost on him (he spent most of his life in the futility of the Crusades).
If you have a chance to watch this movie, DO IT!
posted by Shin-yo at 5:38 PM
1 Comments:
Hey, I recently got my HD reformatted and lost a really great picture of the classic movie poster of Death with his cloak held up in one hand....
anyways... I was looking on google for it and I ran across your post about the movie. Its my fav movie of all time and its nice to see that someone else gets it. Cheers!
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