The Seventh Seal takes death as its theme, which in turn involves fear and faith. In this film, Bergman's thinking is serious and metaphysical. The background of the story is set in the middle of the fourteenth century, when a century-long plague of plague, the Black Death, spread rapidly in Europe. It is conceivable that this breath of death, which may be encountered at any time, adds a layer of irrationality to that history. Such a background separates the director's thinking from the everyday, but undoubtedly more clearly shows the tragic situation of human beings that the director intends to express, and also gives the director a richer means of expression. At the same time, the metaphysical thinking of "The Seventh Seal" also makes the plot and characters of the film full of symbolism.
Playing chess with death is undoubtedly a classic image in Bergman's films, and it is also a dramatic conflict throughout "The Seventh Seal". Reaper in The Seventh Seal is evil (kills the clown) and vile (deceives the knight), and his presence symbolizes "a hostile universe that punishes people senselessly". And the knight he punished reflects the tragic situation of mankind. It should be noted that the knight, as a person who is entangled by the god of death, can be regarded as Bergman's metaphor for the general situation of mankind, while the knight, as a person who competes with the god of death, his bravery and rationality have begun to replace Bergman. Find the way to salvation. In the church, the knight asked in pain and confusion: "Is it really that difficult to understand God's intentions just by one's feelings? Why is he always hiding behind half-truths and never-fulfilling miracles? Why?...Why can't I kill the God in my heart? Why does he shame me?" - The tragedy of human beings is that life is meaningless, and people are always subjected to a hostile host without reason. The punishment of the universe, despite this, humanity still harbors an unquenchable fear of death. God rescued mankind from the abyss of fear, but inevitably caused reason to suffer. The knight is wise, and he tries to find "a truth" to the end of mankind. In this way, even if man must lose the chess game with death, he has achieved his own goal, and thus defeated both the malicious universe and death - although finding "truth" is equally difficult and almost impossible to complete .
In this way, tragically, Bergman's knight is similar to Camus' Sisyphus and Hemingway's Santiago. However, "The Seventh Seal" gives people hope. Unlike Sisyphus who can only passively choose to push stones, and unlike the whole "Wild Strawberry" full of icy pain, in "The Seventh Seal", although "truth" may not exist at all, but, In the end, the knight saw the "half-true promise" in confusion, so the knight "cannot kill the god in his heart". It's just that this "promise" is too ethereal, so ethereal that it can hardly be regarded as "truth", but only as a kind of consolation. In the movie, that consolation is the smile of the Virgin, Mia's playful "I love you", and Mikel crawling on the grass.
We learn from the movie that the knight and his servants are on their way home - is it fair to say that Bergman begins a fable about man's journey to his home? The knight - the courage and wisdom of man, and the servant Jon - the loyalty and magnanimity of man, protect the Joseph family - all the innocence of mankind, and all the hope of salvation that Bergman carefully collected, leading the blacksmith and his His wife, the humbleness and insignificance of man, began to travel through the forest. On the way, with a little malice, Jon mocked the trivial dispute between the blacksmith couple and the clown with witty interjections; the knight and the god of death fought unyieldingly; through the burning of the stake, everyone witnessed how the fear of mankind killed them. They arrived at the castle and saw the knight's wife - a man of tenacity and fidelity. And so the end finally came, and under the watchful eyes of the Joseph family, their steps were slow and noble--"They went, and danced solemnly, to the kingdom of darkness, and the rain washed their faces and washed them away tears."
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