“Jöns” is a non-believing realist who is of the mindset to eat, drink, and be merry, for we are all going to die sometime. Having lost his faith and feeling his life has been futile, “Antonius” strives to find proof that God exists, and wants to do one meaningful act before he dies. The film is filled with contrasts, beginning with “Antonius" and “Jöns”. Also in tow are a blacksmith (“Plog”), his wife (“Lisa”), and a nameless girl who mostly remains silent. As they journey home towards “Antonius’” castle, they are joined by a small group of traveling performers consisting of "Jof”, his wife “Mia”, their infant son “Mikael, and fellow performer and troupe manager, “Jonas”. The two have just returned from a fruitless ten years in the Crusades, only to find themselves back in a homeland riddled with the plague known as the Black Death. We learn the knight is “Antonius Block” and his squire is “Jöns”. But no, this film is so beguiling it still packs an uncompromising punch as it explores unanswerable questions of life, death, faith, humanity, and God. Two of its iconic scenes have been countlessly emulated, parodied, analyzed, honored, and copied, to a point that you would think this original work would now seem frivolous and clichéd.
“The Seventh Seal” won that year’s Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and has been listed on countless Greatest Films of All-Time lists, including those by the British Film Institute, The Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, and many, many more. It opened the door to foreign films becoming popular in the United States, and officially launched arthouse cinema. This incredibly powerful film changed cinema, proving films could successfully be made about philosophical questions while remaining entertaining. Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman is one of those handful, and in his long line of cinematic masterpieces, "The Seventh Seal" is among his most celebrated.
But there are only a handful who make groundbreaking, transcendent films that transform the medium into poetic experiences, leaving a lasting impression upon the viewer. There are many film directors who have the skills to makes those types of films, and fewer who make films that beg to be looked at a second or third time. One often thinks of movies as fun popcorn-eating diversions, meant to entertain and then be forgotten.
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