The Seventh Seal and Ingmar Bergman

When I first taught world cinema, I knew I wanted to assign Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957). But when the time came to put my lecture together, I was surprised by how difficult this film was to teach. After finding some very good articles (see below), I found teaching this classic film by one of my favorite directors to be very rewarding.

 

Strangely, this past winter I taught The Seventh Seal right before Covid-19. It was also around the same time Max Von Sydow passed away - one of the stars of the film. Even before Covid, I would offer guiding questions to consider current films or television shows involving a plague or dystopia setting. Before I get to that, here are some points I addressed in the film. This lecture was structured from Birgitta Steene's and Marilyn Johns Blackwell's writings on the film.

Interior Landscape 

Bergman’s films often focus on an interior landscape, a reflection of a state of mind. Here we can see the impact of German Expressionism. Think of the expressive settings of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and how they embody the dark psyche of Cesare and Dr. Caligari.

 

Likewise, expressionism informs The Seventh Seal when the Knight is tormented by his own doubts. Bergman captures the Knight's interior through the harsh, rigid, and Gothic landscape that opens the film when he encounters Death.

Compare the film's opening to Jof, the traveling performer, who has a vision of The Virgin Mary. Here the angelic and serene landscape is much different from the dark and ominous opening of Death's arrival on the beach. Both scenes demonstrate Bergman's expressive use of mise-en-scene in capturing an interior landscape.

 

Art Cinema

The Seventh Seal is a classic example of European art house cinema, demonstrated by its loosely structured narrative and bleak ending. It is a film that intellectually challenges us. The film is not a strictly goal orientated film. Rather it is structured by the reprieve Death offers the Knight. The looseness of the story allows Bergman to digress the narrative into some interesting moments, particularly the flagellation scene.

 

At the same time, Bergman’s journey narrative has a purpose. This is certainly the case for the Knight. There are random events, but they do lead to his self-confrontation in the form of death at the end of the film. See David Bordwell's article on art house cinema.

(Notice how the geometric patterns entrap the Knight, suggesting he cannot escape death.)

 

Philosophy

Existentialism is often discussed in the context of The Seventh Seal. As Steene writes, "The Seventh Seal is an allegory with a theme that is quite simple: man, his eternal search for God, with death as his only certainty" (62). And Blackwell notes, "A major impetus behind the international fascination with The Seventh Seal lay in the political climate of the mid-1950s (576)."

The Seventh Seal engages with the existential view that a human life is decided in the choice of action.  Relevant here is French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre’s notion that “existence precedes essence.” In other words, essence is not predetermined but manifested through our choices and actions. Here, Blackwell makes reference to social concerns of the late 1950s, particularly the threat of nuclear Armageddon. And we can see how the dark themes of Bergman’s film could grab hold of the viewer’s imagination during that time.

I build upon this point by having students think about what current shows and movies invoke dark or dystopia themes. Answers I often get are The Walking Dead  and The Handmaid's Tale. I often cite post 9/11 films such as Children of Men or Cloverfield.

 

 

The famous final image of The Seventh Seal is the dance of death, which is taking from a painting.

 

 

The painter in this scene is based on Albertus Pictor who was a famous medieval Swedish painter. His dance of death church wall painting of Death playing chess directly informs the opening and ending of the film.

 

 

The Seventh Seal is a complex film on many levels. It is expressionistic, it demonstrates the art cinema mode of filmmaking, it engages with philosophy and also speaks to its current moment in the late 1950s. 

 

 

Perhaps more importantly, The Seventh Seal is a personal film for Bergman who was working through his own demons. As Peter Cowie puts it: “Bergman is exorcising his own demons, his own dread of the eternal darkness, and to his surprise and delight this process has appealed to audiences in practically every corner of the world” (cited from the Criterion disc).

 

Here are some other books and movies to discuss in relation to The Seventh Seal:

The Stand by Stephen King. King talks about the energy crisis at the time he wrote the novel.

PD James's Children of Men. For the movie, I often bring up social concerns post 9/11. For the book, which was published in 1990, I think it is more relevant to AIDS.

 

Sources:

The Seventh Seal” from Ingmar Bergman by Birgitta Steene, pp.61–69

The Seventh Seal: Cinematic Form and Cultural Criticism” in Film Analysis (Second edition) by Marilyn Johns Blackwell, pp.574–592­

 

Top Ten Stephen King Books

For the past year, I've been reading a lot of Stephen King books. I've been a fan of King over the years. But I guess I recently got the King bug, especially after reading 'Salem's Lot last summer. To this day, I've read almost half of King's novels. There's still so much more to explore, given the amount of books, novellas, and short stories he has published over the years. But I thought it would be fun to list my ten favorite books thus far - no particular ranking.

Growing up as a GenX-er, the commercial for the uncut version of this book aired all the time on TV. This was the first book of his I read way back in 1996, and was taken by how much heart and melodrama it had, or what I describe as "horror with heart." It might also be the longest book I have ever read! But never a dull moment. Some of my favorite characters are Trashcan Man, Larry Underwood, and Nick Andros. I also loved Harold Emery Lauder, as tragic as he was.

Next to The Stand, I think 'Salem's Lot is one of King's best novels. There's so much to say about it. For one, the story takes some of the narrative structure from Bram Stoker's masterpiece. Of course, there is a number of scary and suspenseful moments. But what took me by surprise is the small town that King creates for the reader. Early in the book, King describes an entire day and doings of 'Salem's Lot. Knowing that something supernatural is about to take over this town made this section of the book so frightening. In certain ways, 'Salem's Lot is an invasion narrative.

First and foremost, the movie version is one my favorite films. The Shining was what made me go to film school. And like everyone else who loves the film, we all know that King was not a fan of Kubrick's version. I read the book way later in my life, mainly because I was curious about what Kubrick left out from the novel, and why King was not happy about the film version. I think both the film and novel are extraordinary. I have found myself equally scared by both.

This book took me by surprise. It was the first book I read of his during his later years of writing. I felt his writing style was leaner and direct, rather than what Matt Thorne in The Guardian called the "baroque" category of King. I think Rose The Hat is one of King's top villains. And I thought Rebecca Ferguson was amazing in the film. But what struck me about Doctor Sleep was its exploration of alcoholism. This book is not only a sequel to The Shining, it is also a story about recovery. And having read about King's own battles with addiction made this book even more poignant.

I found myself recently reading a lot of 1990s King. Next to Gerald's Game (in terms of graphic horror), it is one of the more gory novels of his. Desperation also demonstrates King's interest in putting a bunch of characters who don't know each other in one setting over a long stretch of time (e.g. Maximum Overdrive). This was a topic I explored in my book Cinema of Confinement. The novel also involves King playing with language, such as Tak! Very cool book.

I am unsure what novel I enjoyed the most out of the series. Perhaps Wolves of the Calla or  The Waste Lands? I was not such a fan of The Drawing of the Three and had stopped reading the series. But after my father died in 2017, I went back to The Dark Tower story. I was in the Hudson Valley and wanted to read something that would take me out of the funk of my father's sudden death. I purchased The Waste Lands and it was everything I expected and more. I think The Dark Tower series is one of King's greatest achievements. I guess that's all I'll say. But I was very much touched by Roland's journey. So glad I stuck with it. I encourage you to read it if you haven't.

I read that King came up with this story when he accidentally slipped and fell down a hill behind a gas station. I was surprised by the tone of the book, where Pennsylvania State Troopers tell their stories of the Buick 8 that they impounded. The Buick 8 is a supernatural vehicle that appears to be a gateway into another world. Again, I loved how the narrative focuses primarily on the barracks and garage were the Buick is kept. I felt that King allows you to ponder the mystery of the car, without explaining too much. It's a strange book that I often think about.

I loved this book and believe it to be in the same vein as Salem's Lot and Needful Things - all about a large cast of characters in a small town dealing with some strange unexplained / supernatural event. The book is very engaging and never slow. It is also a great tale about how leaders can turn into authoritarians. Under the Dome is well worth your time.

I had seen the films The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, and Apt Pupil before reading Different Seasons. This is a great collection of novellas. My favorite might be Apt Pupil. I was surprised by how dark and disturbing the story was, much different than the movie, which I was not such a fan of.

King mentioned that this book was him trying too hard. I think this is an amazing fantasy book about elderly people. I thought the length and pacing of the book reflected the characters - not to be rude about getting old. Maybe more importantly is the book's connection to The Dark Tower and why I enjoyed the book so much. Unlike King's approach to sci-fi, I think he takes his approach to fantasy quite seriously, exploring very intriguing aspects of out of body experiences as well as playing with time and space, which can be traced back to The Dark Tower story, or even Lisey's Story. Insomnia is a slow burn, but I think it is worth checking out.

I would also like to mention King's book On Writing. This book had such a tremendous impact on me as a writer. It inspired me to write with the door closed, and not be afraid to write even when you don't know the entire structure of your story, or even know where your story is heading. Everybody has their own approaches to writing. But for me, I like to discover things about the characters and their situations as I write.

For academic analysis, check out Tony Magistrale's books on King.

Suburban Tales and The Mansion

Coming soon! Suburban Tales Last year, I wrote a bunch of short stories that focus on the supernatural, fantasy and horror. I picked three stories and thought it would be fun to independently publish them as a book series. The stories are entitled, "The Rock Star," The Piano," and "The Decorator." All three stories focus on Eden Gardens, a fictional neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.

I was surprised to see a number of well-known authors like Joe Hill and Paul Tremblay were publishing short reads and short stories under the Kindle Short Reads category. I wonder how this has impacted print journals that publish short stories. As always with digital technology, there are pluses and minuses.

I also wrote the third book in my Hudson Valley trilogy called The Mansion. I hope to have it ready later in the year. The other two books in the trilogy are The Postcard and The Bells - both available through Amazon.

My academic books, Capturing Digital Media (Bloomsbury Academic) and Cinema of Confinement (Northwestern University Press), are also available for purchase.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Ivyscobie

www.tomconnellyfiction.com

 

Bong Joon-ho

It was so exciting to see Bong Joon-ho win all those Academy Awards for Parasite this year. It was definitely one of the best films of the year. I had some other favorites such as The Irishman, Marriage Story, 1917, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Joker, and Jo Jo Rabbit.

I've been teaching Bong Joon-Ho in my Global Cinema class for the past three years. When I first proposed my course, I didn't know much about Korean cinema. I was directed toward Park Chan-wook's Oldboy by a number of my students. This was the first Korean film I watched, and it is an incredible and visceral movie that will stick with you for a long time.

Bong and Park are part of a number of directors known as New Korean Wave. 

What is unique about these filmmakers is they work within genre to get at social concerns. This is clearly the case in Bong's films The Host and Snowpiercer. 

For example, The Host addresses a number of topics, such as youth unemployment after the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

Or "the right of the hungry" (seo-ri), which is connected to the film's theme of consumption.

At the same time, The Host is a very entertaining and scary film. I think horror and Gothic films are particularly good at generating social commentary, such as Night of the Living Dead, Get Out, Dawn of the Dead, and The Devil's Backbone.

But one film I highly recommend is Bong's Memories of Murder. Christina Klein wrote an excellent article on Memories and The Host called, "Why American Studies Need to Think About Korean Cinema, or Transnational Genres in the Films of Bong Joon-ho."

Klein argues that Memories and The Host have the traditional Hollywood conventions of the serial killer and the monster genre, respectively. At the same time, both films speak to Korean social concerns. She identifies these two registers through surface and deep crime.

Klein states: “Bong does not mimic Hollywood but appropriates and reworks genre conventions, using them as a framework for exploring and critiquing South Korea social and political issues” (873).

 
She argues that the surface crime launches the story and motivates the action. The process of investigating the surface crime often produces a deep crime, which is a pervasive wrongdoing that lies beneath the surface of everyday life (881). 

This deep crime, for example, points toward the Chun regime during the 1980s. The film capture life under the Chun dictatorship as the detectives attempt to find the serial killer.

Of course, Klein's surface and deep crime reading can certainly apply to Bong's new film, Parasite and its commentary on wealth and inequality. At the same time, the film has surface traits of a thriller and, to some degree, horror.

Lastly, there are many great films from South Korea. Below are a few I recommend:

 

 Be sure to check out Darcy Paquet's great introduction to New Korean Cinema

The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street - The Twilight Zone

"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" is an episode I have shown many times in my television courses. Rod Serling is an artistic force, especially when you consider the TV anthologies he wrote in the 1950s, such as Patterns and Requiem for Heavyweight. Although the term "showrunner" was not used during the time when The Twilight Zone aired, Serling arguable meets all the traits of a television auteur.

The plot of "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" is simple: neighbors conversing on a sun-drenched suburban street are suddenly disrupted when a strange-sounding object flies over with a loud roar and a flash of light. Some think it might have been a meteor. No one really knows for sure. No need to panic. But when they discover they have no electrical power, and lawn mowers and cars no longer work, a meeting is called on the street as the paranoia begins.

 

The episode offers a number of insights into late 1950s America (albeit allegorically).

 

As residents of Maple Street gather together, young Tommy references his comic books as a source of explanation for the strange occurrence. He says aliens may have already sent their people to earth, who look just like humans, a possible reference to Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (1956). 

 
Of course, this film and others of the 1950s are often discussed as allegories of an outside threat such as communism or McCarthyism and the Red Scare, which speaks to the height of the Cold War era.

The neighbors blow Tommy off, saying that he's been reading too many comic books. It is interesting to note that in 1954 the Comics Code Authority was established as a way for the comic book industry to police itself.

The Comics Code Authority was created because of the concern of graphic content and its impact on the youth. Poor Tommy is certainly a target.

Although the episode suggests social harmony before the strange thing flew by and knocked out their power, the neighbors, in fact, were already aware of their peculiarities. Thinking aliens have infiltrated Maple Street, the neighbors scrutinize all idiosyncrasies.

These differences are brought out into the open as a way to see who's an alien and who's not. At one point, one of the neighbors points out that Steve is always using his ham radio at night. 

Steve's ham radio takes on qualities of what Jeffrey Sconce terms a "haunted media." But in this case, the radio is not identified as communicating with a supernatural being or the undead as depicted in Poltergeist (1982), but to communicate with aliens. Of course, Steve laughs at this assertion. 

Rodney Hill's excellent article, "Mapping The Twilight Zone: Cultural and Mythological Terrain," notes that “A chief character found in all of these issues [such as threat of nuclear war, the red scare, and the ever-present danger that suburban conformity might deteriorate into fascism] is fear."

Steve's calls the neighbor's inquisitions a kangaroo court, which is an appropriate description of the situation. But it is also a reference to fascism, a topic that Serling also explored in "Eye of the Beholder."

And it is fear that causes Charlie to shoot and kill Jim, thinking he was one of the aliens. It is at this point where logic and rationality collapses as a mob of violence ensues on Maple Street. What they do not know is that aliens are responsible for cutting their power and electricity.  But can we assign the paranoia of Maple Street to the aliens?

 

The closing narration of Serling demonstrates why he is considered one of television's best writers: "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices. . . to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill. . . and suspicion can destroy. . . and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own – for the children and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone."