Film Analysis: The Seventh Seal

Questions of existence have plagued young and old alike throughout history. In the Middle Ages, where faith was one’s life, this was no different. In Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 film, The Seventh Seal, he addresses these questions expertly. About an existentialist knight, Antonius Block, returning from the Crusades to a society torn by the Black Plague, The Seventh Seal brings varying perspectives about faith and the existence of God through its characters as well as cinematography. Block meets the personification of Death in the first scene of the film, challenging him to a game of chess. Death shows himself throughout the film, but manifests in different ways, leading Block to doubt his faith further, to question if fear is the basis of his faith,

He stops for confession in a small church, the grate between him and the “priest”—revealed to be Death—acting as prison bars of doubt. A statue of the crucified Jesus hangs behind Block, His face contorted in agony. Shadows fall heavily, illuminating Block as well as Death’s insipid face. The image of the tormented Jesus, the despair in Block’s face, and the high-contrast shadows paint Block as a tortured soul, with Death drawing him nearer day by day. He talks to Death, explaining that he wishes to speak openly, but feels that he cannot because his “heart is empty.” He goes on, having a bit of a back and forth with Death about wanting knowledge—he says “I want knowledge, not faith, not suppositions, but knowledge.” Death identifies that Block wants “guarantees,” to which Block responds: “Call it whatever you like. 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?” Evidently, the knight has doubts about God and his existence, wanting something as tangible and real as Death. He wants to know if there’s something after death, he wants proof. He further questions this as he continues: “How can we have faith in those who believe when we can't have faith in ourselves?” and even goes so far as to say “Why can't I kill God within me?” Faith has been ingrained in Block since childhood, and now, as an adult,

Returning to Block’s home, his wife still waiting for him despite the Plague, the knight, his squire, a blacksmith and his wife, and a silent woman settle in to a meal. Karin, Block’s wife reads a passage from the Revelations in the Bible about the Seven Seals. The room is cast in shadows, the only light coming from a small window, as if from Heaven. As she reads, there is a knock at the door. Squire Jons checks it and returns, saying that it was no one. Shortly thereafter, Death appears in the shadows of the room. Each person says their piece to death, the knight bidding him a good morning, while Karin welcomes him to her house, and the blacksmith telling his story, hiding his pleas for forgiveness in it. Block hides his face in his hands, praying. “From our darkness, we call out to Thee, Lord. Have mercy on us because we are small and frightened and ignorant.” In his darkest and final hour, Block seems to find the blind faith that has been hiding within him, turning to it in comfort. He accepts that there may or may not be something after Death, and most importantly, he accepts his own mortality, something he has been struggling with throughout the film. Furthermore, Block realizes the in the grand scheme of things, humans are infinitesimally small, their lives meaningless amongst the rest of the vast universe. He recognizes that humans are in the dark—perhaps Bergman is