Ingmar Bergman: The Seventh Seal

Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal proves to be one of the director's deepest expressionist films. The film is heavily philosophical in its subject matter, pushing the viewer to think deeply about topics such as the existence of God, superstition, evil, and ultimately, death. The film follows a knight named Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow) who returns to his country after the crusades only to find it in a broken state, terrorized by fear of the black plague. During this period, he engages in a game of chess with Death (Bengt Ekerot), which he cannot get away from throughout the rest of the film. The existential themes plague Block and the rest of the characters throughout the film, as they look for answers to the unknown questions surrounding their existences in such a dark time. The society portrayed within the film is desperate for answers and solutions to the plague brought upon them, and resort to torture and murder in their search. Despite the attempts, no solutions are found, leaving Block to ponder what the point of it all is.

A young woman accused of causing the plague is crucified.

The film carries on Bergman's trademark auteur style of portraying a subjective reality through the eyes of the characters. Whether or not Death is an actual physical entity or merely a vision seen through the subjective eyes of the characters remains unclear. He seems to only appear to the characters who encounter him and face their deaths, except in the case of Jof (Nils Poppe), who is able to see Death's game of chess with Block. His wife Mia (Bibi Andersson), however, is unable to see Death, bringing forth the question of whether Death actually exists within their reality or not.

The cast dances off with Death in the end.

The  bleak setting and dim, murky lighting for the majority of the film creates a dark atmosphere, reflecting the somber, fearful mind state of the characters Bergman is portraying. This dark atmosphere created within the film is in line with the expressionist tradition, of which Bergman could be considered a part of, in his own unique manner. This expressionist tradition can be traced back to German expressionist films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), which also created an atmosphere which reflected dark mind states of the characters. The film also contains plenty of close-ups of the character's faces, another trademark technique of Bergman. Whether it is a stone-cold glare from Death, or a pondering glance from Block, the close-ups help emphasize the emotional impact. 

Despite the dark subject matter of The Seventh Seal, there is a glimmer of hope for the future. This glimmer of hope is important for the film's role in post-WWII Europe, as the film was only released 12 years after the war. This hope is shown in the very end, as Jof and Mia head off with their newborn child, having narrowly escaped death. The sun is out, and uplifting strings come in to end the film on a positive note. Even the dead characters do not end the film on a negative note, as they dance off into the sunset with Death. Like post-WWII Europe, medieval Sweden here has been ravaged with death, but there are future generations to survive and carry on the underlying sense of love and hope existing within the film.