The Seventh Seal - d/Ingmar Bergman (1957)

 “- Antonius Block: Life is a preposterous horror. No man can live faced with Death, knowing  everything's nothingness.
- Death: Most people think neither of death nor nothingness.
- Antonius Block: But one day you stand at the edge of life and face darkness.”

My previous experience with Bergman was with Wild Strawberries, his other film from 1957. This one  (Swedish: Det sjunde inseglet), I have been waiting for a suitable time to sit down to, having heard of its more direct philosophical approach. The three day long weekend, plus a few postponements of events due to the prevailing situation, gave me the chance to watch this movie twice, in two days.

"Is it so cruelly inconceivable to grasp God with the senses? Why should He hide himself in a mist of half-spoken promises and unseen miracles?...What is going to happen to those of us who want to believe but aren't able to?"

The Silence of the Gods is  the major theme in this movie, as Antonius Block, returning to his country , Sweden, after the crusades, ravaged by the plague, fights against the call of Death. Returning from the crusades, he seems to be convinced that it was a not "useful contribution", with which he could leave this life. He plays chess with death, as he awaits a suitable opportunity for his one good deed. He manages to do just that, distracting death just sufficiently, to make an actor husband and wife, Jof and Mia, escape with their one year old boy, after a series of "games" with Death. The stark difference of expressions between Jof and Mia, and Block and his squire, Jons, (played by Gunnar Björnstrand, who also cast as Prof. Borg's son, in Wild Strawberries), to me said so much about how Bergman looked at life during this stage of his life. Mia and Jof appreciate the simple things in life - a song, a dance, the love they have for each other and their son, Michel. Jof has visions, and it is subtly suggested that for those who are living on the moment, have a better chance of  faith, and peace of mind.

Jof and Mia, with their son Michel, enjoying life 'on the moment', undeterred 
by his bruises  in a run-in at the inn

 In contrast Block, searching for answers, is left in the dark till his death. Even 'Death' calls himself, the unknowable. Maybe when Block 'arranged' Jof and his family to escape, death made an allowance to do so - after all he proudly proclaims - "nothing escapes me."

Block's pursuit in search of answers leaves him in endless hopelessness - till his end.

“- Antonius Block: I want knowledge ! Not  faith , not assumptions, but knowledge. I want God to stretch out His hand, uncover His face and speak to me.
- Death: But He remains silent .
- Antonius Block: I call out to Him in the darkness. But it's as if no one was there.
- Death: Perhaps there isn't anyone.”

Block, with his Squire, Jöns, wondering about the 'fate' of a girl
being burned for 'consorting with the devil'

Like how the  the view points of Prof. Borg and his son in Wild Strawberries are countered ( By the way wild strawberries, are being shared and enjoyed between all Josef and his family, and Block and his squire in a rare scene of peace ), appreciation of the time one has in his hands, instead of worrying about unknowable, (as we see Block doing here), is upheld in both the movies. Here, the message is not subtle, and maybe the movie has dated in terms of the directness of  the message that it attempts to present. Yet, the fact that it is the kind of movie that will live in on in one's mind for days, making one toggle the scenes in one's mind, is proof to the fact that this movie is a timeless masterpiece.

Of the cast, Gunnar Björnstrand ( Jöns, squire ) and Nils Poppe (Jof) made the most impression on me. The way that Jöns meets Block's skepticism  with a sardonic response, not only with words, but to each facial expression is a treat to watch. His surmise of the crusades ("Our crusade was such madness that only a real idealist could have thought it up."), captured its wastes in few words as possible.

Rating: *****