There's really no sense in pretending that I liked this film in order to try and impress others. I know, "The Seventh Seal" is praised as a masterwork and I'm not about to try to argue that it's not. If it truly is, I'll just admit that its brilliance escapes me.
The imagery at times is striking but not for example..."2001: A Space Odyssey"-striking. Max Von Sydow expresses much emotion in simple looks and glances, especially towards Jof, Mia and their son. The portrayal of Death has become iconic. I get it. But that doesn't mean that this film is anything other than boring to me. The characters may be accurately portrayed given the time that the film is set in, but that doesn't mean that I have to like them or their uncomfortable strangeness. The veiled commentary on Life and Death is hardly disturbing or enlightening to me.
When I type up these little reviews, my goal is to communicate my enjoyment of a film, not to try and rate a film on its importance or craft. I can't do that. I can't explain why I rate "Godzilla" or "Star Trek" movies higher than this one. I'm not a filmmaker, nor have I ever attempted to be. So what it all boils down to is this; did it entertain me? My answer to that would be no, not really. Now where's my "Caddyshack" DVD?
Max von Sydow is great and so is Bengt Ekerot as Death. I thought the plot was really unique and interesting. This deals with a lot of heavy themes.
Beautifully shot, especially the more dark and brooding scenes, the film explores some interesting themes on the inevitability of death, the existence of God, the meaning of life, or lack thereof, and religious extremism. All quite sombre themes, but thankfully the film does attempt to balance these themes, notably with the warmer scenes involving the family of actors that Von Sydow eventually meets up with. The scenes with Death have been much parodied, but they are still quite striking. The film itself also has wit and humour in the more lighter moments, but the darker scenes do tend to dominate the film and have the most impact, especially those moments showing religious extremism explicitly. It is however difficult to connect with the story at first with the characters initially separated. but Von Sydow and the family of actors hold the attention throughout and it is still an interesting film.
Can we stop pretending that these kind of movies are masterpieces? It’s not terrible, but not entertaining enough to be even considered that. If you want to study and analyze this film… Great, go ahead, but don’t tell me this is fun. You’re lying through your teeth.
The only thing I’m left with is that I’m convinced that people give stuff like this a high rating because they want to appear intelligent.
I raise my hands because I did not grasp much during the first watch. Some scenes were really interesting, but it needs a deeper analysis.
The original (Swedish) title is Det sjunde inseglet.
The original title of the film is Det sjunde inseglet
“The Seventh Seal” was probably my worst nightmare during high school. Not just because our teacher would play it billions of times, but especially because it infected me with existential angst a little earlier than I hoped. It’s a film that raises many questions but gives no answer. You could be the earthy and cynic squire; you could be the noble knight always seeking spiritual meaning in life - in the end, the only certainty will be death. Still, the ending feels strangely reassuring for a Bergman film, as if he was trying to convince himself that death is not to be feared but accepted as one inevitable part of life, that the world will keep going on after our time has come.
Not to diminish the value of the visuals, but the film felt almost like a theatre play in the way scenes and dialogues are structured. It’s also quite straightforward in meaning, tight in pacing, light in tone and bawdy in humor for a Bergman film. It didn’t age particularly well, but is definitely one of his most accessible.
Torn between death and the hope for afterlife, humanity fails to live.
I guess I don't have any strong opinions or anything interesting to say about The Seventh Seal. It's certainly very well shot and I can see why Bergman is considered so influential and so renowned. I think the ending in particular was beautifully directed.
I would imagine this and much of Bergman's work was very influential on Tarkovsky, so I don't want to discredit that, but I found Andrei Roublev to be a much more engaging exploration of similar themes. I think by telling a much more expansive story and taking the time to let us really get to know the characters, Tarkovsky was better able to emphasize the universality of the struggles faced by the respective protagonists who have their faiths tested. One thing I appreciate about The Seventh Seal, though, is that it is in many ways more tragic in its conclusions, which may make it more realistic, and in my opinion, no less profound.
Also, this movie's really funny?? I wasn't expected that, and I think the comedy did clash with the tone at times (but maybe that's more my problem than the film's).
Review by saundrewBlockedParent2016-04-16T16:20:46Z
I'm not crazy about conceptual/abstract art in general. My problem with that is that it always feels like what you'd be doing for yourself, not the audience, so you can make sure the story is told in a new and interesting way. But every once in a while something like that really works, and here is one of them.
The weird jumps for characters in this actually helps tell the story like what you might go through in that death phase. Your mind is not controlled by logic and physical limitations all the time. If you think about it like a dream, this is very similar. You never question how you suddenly got to some totally different location. You just go with it and live the moment you're in.
That's why I love this movie. As a depiction of what going through death might be like, this film does it so well. I'll admit, the beginning starts just ok, but I love the second half a lot. That's where we see differences in embracing our 'main' character.
Certainly check it out if you haven't seen it, but just make sure you're in the right mood. I don't think this is a 'chill out after a hard day's work' movie.