Foreign Film Narrative in The Seventh Seal (1957)

Foreign Film Narrative in The Seventh Seal (1957)

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The Seventh Seal is a movie from Sweden. While this movie may have some similarities to American movies, there are many differences. The director, Ingmar Bergman shows realistic and non realistic properties of the area when the black plague hit. The movie The Seventh Seal is not exactly based on action, inside it is based on the characters lives. Also the movie does not have a narrator, like most cultural movies. The Seventh Seal narration provides a different narration then what we are used to.

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The Seventh Seal shows how people dealt with the black plague.
“For almost everyone, the plague signified the wrath of God. A plague so sweeping and unforgiving could only be the work of some species of Divine punishment upon mankind for its sins. Popes led processions lasting three days and which were attended by two thousand followers, according to some accounts. The people prayed, wept, gnashed their teeth, pulled their hair, imploring the mercy of the Virgin Mary. The majority of people were convinced that the plague was certainly the work of God. And in September 1348, the Pope agreed. In a papal edict he specifically referred to "this pestilence with which God is affecting the Christian people.” "Lecture 29: Satan Triumphant: The Black Death."
People believed that when they got the black plague it was a punishment from God. They could have had those death walks in which they paraded the sick around. In a part of the movie, a few men at a bar are talking about how God was back to end the world. It was something that made everyone frightened. ( The Seventh Sign).

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In most foreign films, “many narratives in Western cultures are more inward, centering on individuals, their fate, and their self-knowledge” (Corrigan, Timothy 236). In The Seventh Seal the movie is mostly based on Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow), and his “battle” against death (Bengt Ekerot).
“Antonius Block (Max von Sydow), a knight, returns disillusioned, with his squire Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand), from a Crusade and finds that his home country of Sweden is being ravaged by the plague. To his dismay, Death (Bengt Ekerot) has come for him, as well. He challenges Death to a chess match. Death agrees to the terms: as long as Block resists, he lives. If he wins, he shall go free. "The Seventh Seal -."
Instead on Antonius physically fighting Death, he mentally fights him. This film is made to show how Antonius’s fate ends up if he played a chess game against Death. The characters are focused on their lives not much on anything else. (The Seventh Seal).

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The narration of The Seventh Seal is not based on a narrator. In may foreign films the “film narrative can appear in presence, or absence, or narration itself” (Corrigan, Timothy 236). This movie does not have an over sounding narration. Instead it focuses on the people. The people are the narrators. In the films narration, “it is crucial always to question not just the pattern according to which it organizes events, but also the cultural implied or addressed by that pattern” (Corrigan, Timothy 236). The pattern is linear chronology, the characters move forward through time. One of the main characters is fighting for his life by playing a chess game. Chess was one of the most popular games at that time. It was about strategy, and how Antonius is fighting to save his life. (The Seventh Seal)
This foreign film shows many different aspects of narrative across culture. It shows how the area was when the black plague was just beginning. It also shows how the narrative differs from our narrative. Their narrative is more about their destinies. The characters also had a different narration, they did not have a voice speaking overhead. Their lives were the narration.

Works Cited
Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia Barry. The Film Experience: an Introduction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. Print.
"Lecture 29: Satan Triumphant: The Black Death." The History Guide -- Main. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. .
"The Seventh Seal -." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. .
The Seventh Seal. Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Perf. Max Von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Nils Poppe, Bengt Ekerot. AB Svensk Filmindustri, 1957. DVD.