The Seveth Seal (Ingmar Bergman film)

[xerxez]

Recently I discovered the film works of Ingmar Bergman and I have been astounded at the depth and power they hold.

After watching a few of his films (and liking every one of them) I discovered the Seventh Seal.

I don't think I am the only gamer who will like the medieval story and imagery of the Seventh Seal.

Disclaimers:

It's black and white (1957). Its not anything like a silent film, however.

It's Swedish with English subtitles.

It is not exactly historically accurate and it was not meant to be. Bergman did not get confused on the divergent events that he tied together but used poetic license.

Finally, it is unavailable online but can be ordered from Netflix. Or rented from a store, if you can find it.

That said, it is a moving and memorable experience.

A knight who returns from the last Crusade meets Death on a shore. Death has come to claim him but he asks Death to first play him a game of chess as he has heard tales and songs that say Death is a skilled player. Death accepts his offer, and the knight gets him to agree that he will not take him until the game is finished and if the knight should win, he will go free.

Dillusioned by the Crusades, lost youth and fears and doubts about life and death and the existence of God, the Knight tells Death that before darkness takes him, he wishes to perform "one meaningful act".

They do not play the game all at once--they play a series of moves and then death disappears for a time--they resume the game at intervals in the film and during the course of their ongoing game the Knight (and his ignoble and irreverent Squire Jons) gathers a band of unlikely companions and travel for the Knight's castle.

That is all I can say without ruining any of it. This is a moody, philosophical film filled with the themes of life, death, and God.

If you can detatch yourself from the way films are done these days and enjoy it as a medieval story you will like it. I could almost swear that Rutger Hauer modeled his Ladyhawke character's weary but ever chivalrous mannerisms after Max Von Sydow's Antonius Block role in the Seventh Seal. Block is not the cynic that Captain Navarre was, however.

Block is the most compelling character in the entire film and I want to play a character based upon him in the next game I partcipate in as a player. He was very believable. Although he wavers between doubt and faith, he is all the more believable for that.

I already gathered an idea from it for a D&D scenario I am looking forward to using! The personification of Death himself, entering the player's lives via a friendly but weary Knight who is engaged in an ongoing game of Chess with mysterious nightly visitant...

Hope someone gets to see it and enjoys it. Would enjoy hearing from folks who already have.

Xerxez

[terje]

Yes its a good film, but its not only philosophical it is also funny. Sure its often a dark gallows humor but I laughed several times when I saw it. The squire especially makes laconic, and sometimes grim, jokes.

[talysman]

I can't remember if this was the first Bergman film I'd ever seen, or The Magician. I know that my "knowledge" of Bergman prior to seeing this was jokes about "Swedish art films" on Carol Burnett or in MAD Magazine, plus a short parody film called "The Dove". I was surprised when I finally did see it, because it's funny and has a pretty straight-forward plot, even if there are some philosophical dialog bits.

The last bit in the castle is very very creepy.

Oh, and for those who hate subtitles: there's an English dubbed version. I have the Criteriod DVD, and the dubbing actually looks very close and sounds good, so it's just like you're watching an old Hollywood film instead of a Swedish film.

[xerxez]

There were some very funny moments in the film and I did laugh.

Didn't know there was a dubbed version, I'll look.

But Criterion films tend to be quite powerful in my experience--Joan of Arc by Herzel was another moving film--thiswithout ANY sound at all.

[Melan]

I have been a fan ever since I first saw it by accident on TV when I was 13, and it was the first and only movie I bought on video tape. Antonius Blok is definitely a compelling character -- he knows he is lost, and tries to do something about his situation while being too powerless to really accomplish it. A sort of quiet heroism. The imagery is also very effective - it is one of those movies that have been copied and parodied so many times that a lot of it is familiar even if it is your first time seeing it.

Fun bit of trivia: Max von Sydow, who played Blok, also played Ming the Merciless in the 1980 Flash Gordon movie. ;D (And he was perfect in both roles!)

[DungeonDevil]

I had to study Bergmann's oeuvre repeatedly for my college degree, and the residue of that academic ennui still lingers. Now, I think his movies are immensely overrated. C. T. Dreyer's work deserves at least that level of fevered admiration, but few know of him.

[talysman]

Mar 25, 2011 15:09:42 GMT -6 DungeonDevil said:

I had to study Bergmann's oeuvre repeatedly for my college degree, and the residue of that academic ennui still lingers. Now, I think his movies are immensely overrated. C. T. Dreyer's work deserves at least that level of fevered admiration, but few know of him.

I dunno. I've only seen Passion of Joan of Arc and Vampyr, which are pretty good (Joan of Arc is the better one.) I don't know that they're as powerful as The Seventh Seal or Through a Glass Darkly, although maybe a complete-works-to-complete-works comparison might bring me to a different conclusion. I know I thought Fanny and Alexander was a little long, and I got bored with Winter Light so quickly (too quickly?) that I stopped watching it, and I'm not even sure if I gave up on Smiles of a Summer Night or I'm just remembering how bad the Woody Allen knock-off was.

[DungeonDevil]

The Silence (Tystnaden) was much better--no Swedish to clog things up, and the sex scene in the theatre was a nice way to wake up! Through a Glass Darkly (Såsom i en spegel) was very well-known, but again more of a snooze-fest. Tinsel and Sawdust (Gycklarnas afton) was a little better, IMHO.

If you can, check out Dreyers Ordet (The Word). Probably one of the creepiest endings I can remember. And Vampyr was even more eerie than Nosferatu!

[xerxez]

Ah. I meant Dreyer when I said "Herzel". Yes, Joan of Arc was lovely and moving indeed.

And I agree that Vampyr was a compelling and scary film--it feels like a dream one is having while you watch.

I personally don't think Bergman is overrated, though--his films strike a very honest chord.

"Wild Strawberries" is one of his best and very memorable, even for the slow start.

Nothing of D&D in there, though....but one could mine the seventh Seal for some adventure ideas or NPC's.

[DungeonDevil]

Bergmann's work is grounded not in Fantasy or Sword & Sorcery, of course, but Greek drama. Thus, its highly derivative and not innovative in the slightest. In his work there's a lot of emphasis on the concept of sacrifice, whether human or with a surrogate.

[talysman]

There's some surreal elements in things like Wild Strawberries and The Magician that might be useful for inspiration, at least. I think the whole spider-god incident in Through a Glass Darkly is pretty horrific.

[xerxez]

Mar 26, 2011 12:27:35 GMT -6 DungeonDevil said:

Bergmann's work is grounded not in Fantasy or Sword & Sorcery, of course, but Greek drama. Thus, its highly derivative and not innovative in the slightest. In his work there's a lot of emphasis on the concept of sacrifice, whether human or with a surrogate.

I will check out your Dreyer recommend, but I must say that all theatre and drama could be considered derivative of the Greek form--since that's where drama began.

I'm not sure the concept can be innovated upon much at all.

Sword and Sorcery is literature, and does not make for the most powerful sort of drama for the reason that as much as we love it, and as much as we wish we could an would, none of us will ever seek out and find a magical sword. We will not slay a dragon. We will not command an army of elves or dwarves.

But we will lose a loved one. We will have our heart broken. We will sin (or you can put "fail" if you dislike a moral tone), be wronged, see love die, and se it born, etc.

Drama speaks to all these experiences and Bergman's films deal with all of them very nicely.

Hour of the Wolf was his only horror film and the supernatural elements in it are superb.