What Bergman's The Seventh Seal Taught Me About Movies

there's only been a handful of movies that have kept me in my seat long after the credits contemplating what i just witnessed tarkovsky stalker is one of those movies and i talked all about that one already and when i watched the seventh seal i was captivated the same way it reminded me of a quote from david lynch where he said about director tarkovsky who heavily inspired his peculiar style i don't know why people expect art to make sense they accept the fact that life doesn't make sense i was reminded of this because in the seventh

seal the characters we follow are all in their own way trying to understand life under the harsh circumstances of the 1400s black plague and somehow this movie created in the 1950s about characters set in the 14th century is strangely relatable to so many people today a film so legendary it's referenced as an art piece a portrait of man's conflict with death the defining image of chess as a battlefield for one soul bergman's the seventh seal taught me a lot about movies hey guys really quick have you ever heard that a movie was streaming online for

example a studio ghibli film but then you find out it's only available in another country yeah i've been there it's annoying and the answer to that problem is atlas vpn which unlocks geolocked streaming services making all those studio ghibli films available to you in the us and that's just one benefit of having atlas vpn by following the link in the description to sign up you get yourself a bad ass vpn but you also get to support me as a content creator so thank you guys so much [Music] swedish medieval painter albertus pictor painted in the

1400s a monumental painting called death playing chess if you were to google death playing chess you're likely to see side by side this painting and a shot from legendary swedish director igmar brugman's masterpiece the seventh seal a film that's literally about a game of chess with death oh antonius having just returned home from the crusades discovers his homeland is crippling to the black plague he then meets death and he challenges death to a game of chess in order to stall for more time this is the first action antonius makes out of his doubt of the

afterlife out of his doubt of god and therefore his decisions as a crusader bergman's image of a man talking with death has been redone spoofed and definitely parodied but is there any way back you may challenge me to a contest but the film is still magically effective mostly because it's funny i find bergman's script to be very self-aware death is presented as an average dude he has no poetic monologues just the reality of the situation death agrees to a game of chess because it's fun for him he knows there's no escaping from him so from

death's perspective why not let antonius struggle with his spiritual [Music] turmoil antonius director igmar bergman and while i'm at it me all three of us have something in common it's that we question god's existence bergman was raised lutheran i was raised protestant and antonius that poor dude fought in the crusades out of the three of us he has the most writing on this i mean otherwise he just murdered a bunch of people for nothing but that's not what this film is about it's about a man of faith who is doubting that faith something i personally

relate to as i've grown into my own rational doubts from now on i'll refer to this as the film's spiritual dilemma but maybe you've never struggled with a spiritual dilemma bergman is perfectly aware that everyone thinks differently on the subject of god existence and death but more importantly he's aware that everyone thinks about these things this is why antonius's squire yawns represents another perspective he doesn't share this spiritual dilemma instead he spends the film helping others and making friends when yonz is confronted with uncomfortable thoughts of death it's clear he finds solitude in the nothingness

that he believes follows death he's my favorite character because one he's hilarious he has all my favorite lines and two i wish i had yon's perspective on death for a film about death there's a lot of humanity bursting from the characters we meet as antonius and yan's journey home all of these characters representing a different perspective on life and death i think that everyone who watches this film will find a character to relate to and when the film confronts our group with the reality of death we find ourselves confronted with these same feelings of mortality

would you be confident would you be scared bergman is unafraid to ask existential questions directly he uses existentialism to make his audience uncomfortable and in the setting of the 14th century the plague is as dreadful as it gets bergman is constantly referencing scripture throughout the film in case you didn't realize the seventh seal as a title is referencing revelations a book in the bible revelations chapter 8 verses 1 and 2. [Music] series this last book of the bible is depicting the apocalypse the apocalypse which in 2020 many people believe is starting but don't fret these

feelings of the end of the world date back to the 14th century and way beyond that during the black plague many people proclaimed it to be the end of the world and then consider when this film was made 1957 following world war ii with many cities in ruin in the reality of the holocaust setting in many people then too believed it was the end of the world i think this is one reason why this film will forever be timeless because people will always dread the end of the world religious fanatics will always be finding signs

of the end times and bergman paints the fanatics of the 14th century as being crazy much crazier in fact than most modern doomsday speakers i noticed in this that bergman creates a distinct separation between the church and faith one point in the film antonius and yon discuss killing all of the soldiers who were paid by the church in order to rescue a young girl from being burned at the stake the church is blaming the plague on this girl who claims to speak to the devil yawns who doesn't believe in any of this crap is disgusted

by this act of senseless murder he's willing to kill all of these men to save her antonius is more curious if this young girl really can see the devil she speaks to because if the devil exists then god must exist i also want to quickly note that there's a clear difference in this film between death and the devil and in this scene where antonius hopes to find the devil it's clear he understands this distinction the death he's playing chess with does not represent physically or figuratively the devil of the bible this separation bergman creates between

the church and faith is also shown in yaf one of antonius's traveling companions yaf doesn't belong to the church he's not a knight or a monk or a fanatic but of all the characters in this film yaf a struggling traveling showman is the most spiritual early in the film yaf has a vision of the virgin mary and a baby jesus we learned this is one of his many visions as he explains to his wife mia who's just tired of hearing these stories but yaff is confident it was a vision later in the film yaff is

the only character to see antonius sit down with death i believe bergman is saying through yoff that one can walk a spiritual life without connection to the church and maybe that's the best way to live a spiritual life personally i've found distaste in the modern capitalistic nature of church and it's been a real reason i've struggled with my faith bergman also lived through a tumultuous strictly religious childhood which no doubt pushed him into skepticism as yawns is the ideal carefree atheist i wish i could be yaf is also the ideal christian a bright personality a

loving father and not a shred of doubt in his faith [Music] as antonius undergoes his existential crisis he becomes determined to make one final act worth living for before the game of chess comes to an end which figuratively represents the end of his life this act of selflessness occurs during the final moments of the chess match when antonius distracts death ultimately sacrificing the board which represents his life so that yaffa mia can escape into the night after yoff sees death and understands they must leave to survive [Music] while the seventh seal deals very directly with

death and doom it's thankfully hilarious bergman has made several comedies which i've admittedly not seen yet but it makes sense considering how funny this film is specifically yawn's character he makes me laugh a lot from the way he scoffs at antonius behind his back to how he helps pog who's pog you may ask around the same time yonz and antonius meet yoff and mia we are introduced to the blacksmith pog and his wife lisa lisa slips away to make sexy time with yoff's actor friend which sends blacksmith pog into a frenzy in search of her

he asks eons for help but yawns will have no part in it he has a healthy dislike of woman he doesn't believe in god or love and he tries to get pog to forget about his cheating wife this scene had me dying with laughter it also brought a huge smile to my face in the middle of this film about death this lively moment really brightens the perspective pog and lisa don't have any specific perspective to share with the audience but their conflict is both humorous and real and how can you make a film about death

without convincing your audience that you understand life as well bergman does this expertly [Music] now i have to bring up one more character before discussing the final crucial moments she doesn't have a name but is referred to in the credits as mute girl her life is saved by yawns who stops her from being raped by a grave robber he offers her their company and she reluctantly joins because she has nowhere else to go i like this part because even though yon's voices his dislike of women he goes out of his way to save her life

which for me just seals the deal on him being my favorite character and it also adds her important perspective on death after antonius helps mia and yaff escape the rest of our crew continues towards antonius's home their meeting with death foreshadowed by a storm the final scene of this film will always haunt me bergman excellently builds to this final moment and it's bursting with emotion from every character on screen who all give phenomenal timeless performances the mute girl looks almost happy to see death she's undoubtedly lived through a terrible time unable to express her loss

with words or express her needs i think she's happiest to see the end because she's tired of the world the mute girl represents the broken maybe you've never met someone like this but there are people who've come into my life that are just ready for it to be over it's sad to witness but it's a reality and this perspective is confirmed when she mouths the words it is finished yawns chooses not to look death in the eye instead he looks at the camera he's prepared for this moment he's lived his life to the fullest unafraid

to die and in these final moments he goes but under protest yawns will not make an idol out of death antonius i relate to the most and i believe so does bergman or anyone who's lived through a spiritual dilemma he's horrified full of fear praying to a god he doesn't fully believe in because what else can he do antonius has the most honest reaction to death stills the uncertainty antonius meets death with is bergman's honest answer to how he expects to face the big unknown of death we see yaf and mia who escaped the forest

and the storm as they continue traveling iaf sees all of his traveling companions one last time [Music] they are performing the dance of death this dance of death references the medieval artistic genre the dance macabre which expresses the universality of death but the depiction here is a joyful one maybe bergman thought his audience would be unhappy with such an uncertain ending and added this scene for closure it's possible but i'd like to believe that bergman has faith that death can be positive it's without a doubt final and maybe that's a good thing this film taught

me a lot about movies but it also taught me that i love movies about spirituality and faith stalker first reformed the last temptation of christ all movies i love but i didn't really make this connection for myself until i watched the seventh seal all of these movies deal with the same emotions but i think it's because of how directly bergman deals with death and faith and the energy and emotion i experienced from this film helped open my eyes to what is undoubtedly my personal favorite subject for films to handle the universality of a spiritual dilemma

or the fear of death which will forever hunt audiences and especially me york antonio's i want to thank my patreon members for continuously supporting me helping me to create better videos and just being awesome if you'd like to be recognized in my videos and help decide the topic of future videos please check out our community thank you for watching please subscribe like the video and share with whoever you talk movies with i'll see you next time