The Seventh Seal: Philosophical Discourse - Movie Review Example

Number] The Seventh Seal – A Philosophical Dis The seventh seal is philosophical Swedish moviewritten and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The movie was released in 1957. The movie has been set up in the context of Black Death that took way the lives of many people during the medieval period. It depicts the journey of medieval knight and the game of chess that he played with personification of death. The movie has been regarded as one of the major classic movies of the world. The movie became very popular soon after release and allows the director Bergman to recognize him as world class director. This memorable drama of soul proves to be an unforgettable watching experience for most of the audiences. The movie contains deep philosophical message as it is mainly focused upon the question about the existence of God. It tells the tale of a 14th century Swedish village where people were dying from plague. When a crusade returning home came across death he challenged death to a game of chess that if he will win the game, death will leave him alone. The opponents move one chess piece in one day. A couple also entered the scene but the knight distracted the death allowing the couple to escape from death. In the end the knight and the group meet their fate at the castle at death hands. The story contains deep philosophical message and tries to highlight many shortcomings of the religion. It shows that the conception of the human suffering is not well explained in the religion whereas there is also absence of compelling proof about the existence of God. The movie also raises the question about the self-mortification as proposed by the religion and he immoral conduct of the clergy. It shows that some of the religion leaders also misguide and manipulate the believers through their immoral acts because the believers don’t have very clear concepts and faith about certain issues and the religious leaders easily make their minds according to their own wishes. The nature of good and evil is also explored in the movie to illustrate the images of God and Devil. The scenes depicting death wandering around countryside are the most gripping scenes of the movie that draw long lasting impacts upon the memories of the audience. The movie challenges the believers and unbelievers of the religion by posing certain questions about their faith and religious beliefs. The silence of heaven and silence of God is the opening passage and the major theme of the movie portrayed along with other major themes of death, mortality fear of death and existential dread. The movie is not easy to understand for the people having no philosophical thinking and understanding because it conveys a deep philosophical message rather putting a story in front of the audiences. The movie requires complete concentration of mind and thoughtfulness to get the message of the director and the questions about religion and faith that he poses in the movie through the tale of the village and the knight and raises the question in the mind of people about the reality of the existence of God. The opening of the movie names as Silence of God is also a complaint to God asking him that why he keeps him hidden from the people and none ever got to see him. The movie challenges the beliefs of people upon God and insists them to rethink about their faith upon the existence of God. The director gives the impression that one should explore the reasons and motif behind the God hiding from the people in the mist of unseen miracles and promises. There are people who want to believe on God but they found them unable to do so because they often fail to get enough evidences and proofs to satisfy their souls about the questions of God existence. The theme of dealt is also very well portrayed in the movie adding further depth to the message of the movie. It poses the question that death is inevitable or not and what of someone tries to defeat the death in order to change his fate. However, the answer of this question is not very clear in the religion because sometimes it seems that the people have the tendency to make their fate but sometimes it looks that the fate determines everything and the people are not acting really upon their own wills but just to fulfil whatever is written in their fate. This complex issue is also raised in the movie very beautifully making the audience think about the dynamics of fate and life. The themes and motifs presented in the movie have deep philosophical roots. The director has given food for thought for the audiences while brilliantly presenting the death inspector in visual form on the screen. The acting also very well supported the main ideas and themes of the movies as the actors took the audiences along with them to the time and place where the movie has been set up. The movie is regarded as unforgettable cinematic expression because the issues and questions raised in the movie are not simple enough to answer and people need to go deep inside their beliefs and religious view to dig the answers of these questions and satisfy them by testing their beliefs and faiths. The movie could truly be regarded as a philosophical discourse because it raised many important and deep questions about the philosophy of religion, it challenges the faith commonly held by the people and urges them to rethink and re-examine their beliefs especially about the existence of God, fate and death. Since, it is a deep and wide subject, the questions remain unanswered and it is up to the thinking style of the audiences to interpret the message of the movie according to their own thinking and beliefs but the director has done an impressive job by putting forward several complex issues and haunting questions in front of the people to think about in detail. Work Cited The Seventh Seal, Director: Ingmar Bergman, Sweden 1957 Read More