segunda-feira, 28 de abril de 2014

The Seventh Seal - Det Sjunde Inseglet (1957)


In Ingmar Bergman's realm, The Seventh Seal is by far the most well-known movie. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it is the best. In Bergman's filmography, the 50's represent a very different style than the 60's experimental and minimalistic aesthetic style. The Seventh Seal, in particular, is a movie whose structure approaches the american formula, and which presentation can be embraced by a larger audience. There are many characters, a rich historical setting, a hero, and enough comedy relief to captivate the attention of a wider audience. Bergman then uses this structure to insert metaphors about life and death, the path of the human soul and, ultimately, the director's favourite theme: the human condition. However, The Seventh Seal does it in a way which the spectator is not able to really relate, like in, for example, The Silence (1963) or Through a Glass Darkly (1961). It doesn't feel like a pure Ingmar Bergman movie. It feels more like a movie that wants to be the breakthrough for the themes that the director really wants to present. And what Bergman wants to present is still to come in the 60's, in the form of movies with a unique aesthetic that probably would not have the attention they deserved if it weren't for the eye catching Seventh Seal. The bottom line is The Seventh Seal is a great movie. However, inside Bergman's filmography, the spectator feels to have seen a "movie" that presents important themes, instead of feeling a movie and experiencing those themes inside his soul. And that is what makes The Seventh Seal a lesser experience in Ingmar Bergman's work.


Trailer follows:

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