But feel, to the very end, the triumph of being alive!" Death is a certainty and he makes his presence felt, but where is God? Death himself has no answers to this, and wisely, neither does Bergman. "I could have purged your worries about eternity," the squire says, "but now it's too late. We see the knight faithful to the end, trying to give his life meaning by saving others, and his squire cynical of it all. It's the Dark Ages but the things we find are timeless: cruelty, hypocrisy, lust, and yet also the simplicity of love and the quest for God, however ridiculous His absence may seem. Death is all around, even in the form of a mask used by a troupe of circus performers, which include an innocent young married couple (Nils Poppe and Bibi Andersson) and their small child.
Under the torpor and ignorance of religion, the people flagellate themselves and blame and burn a witch. This film established Bergman on the international film scene, and while it may not be perfect, it will always be one of my favorites.Ī knight (Max von Sydow) and his squire (Gunnar Björnstrand) have returned from the Crusades to find Sweden ravaged by the plague.
Also fantastic are the scenes of him asking for knowledge of God in a confessional, and the danse macabre on the hillside at the end. Few images in film surpass that of the knight Antonius Block playing chess with Death by the sea at the beginning of Ingmar Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal'.
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