Final Thoughts on The Seventh Seal

I've been meaning to post this for a few days but haven't had much of a chance to do so.

So, I'm pretty sure that you all read my rant from the other day, right? Well now you all get to hear my final thoughts on this movie. And I still wasn't particularly fond of it. I normally find movies like The Seventh Seal interesting because they're loaded to the brim with symbolism. However, this one just didn't do it for me.

Let's see. Where should I begin? Well, I previously discussed how the symbolism is a bit over-the-top at first. As the film went on, it faded back a little bit and at least felt a bit more "natural" to me. It's definitely still there, but at least it no longer feels like I'm getting a page of symbolism blown at my face. That part was a definite plus for me. But at the same time, there was so much blatant symbolism up to a certain point that I just felt alienated. And that's not fun when you're watching a serious movie. It's probably just a preference. I prefer to have a few things that are clearly symbolic of something. Among the few things that are clearly symbolic of something, I like to have more things in the background that I have to think about in order to understand what they symbolize. This film, for the most part, was very clear in what it was symbolizing 95% of the time. There were a couple of moments where the message was a little more subtle (the wild strawberry scene), but for the most part the massive amount of clear symbolism just alienated me. Or maybe I'm just good at picking some of the less obvious things up, so it all seems clear to me. I don't know.

AND I BET YOU THINK MY COMPLAINING IS OVER NOW, RIGHT?

Haha, nope, not at all.

Now it's time for my main reason for disliking the movie: the characters. They just really, really bored me for the most part. Jons was a bit funny at times, but the main character Antonius was just kind of...bland. I felt like he just spent most of the movie moping around about his main question: Does God exist? And that's about it. Sure, we get to see him be a bit smug and try to trick Death, but we don't see much outside of that. Then there's the squire, Jons, who I actually liked because he provided a bit of comic relief. The family of actors? They provide a little cushioning since Jof gets a little bit of extra characterization during the scene where he's forced to act like a bear (I think?). He later steals a bracelet. What I liked was that it showed us that he's definitely not a perfect person despite all these "visions" he has. The blacksmith and his wife just felt like they were there, basically. Just there. No major reason other than to really add to the character total (seven seals) and move the plot along. Yes, there was a little comic relief with them being introduced, but it just didn't totally do it for me. Finally, we have the mute girl. I found her more interesting than the others simply because she can't express herself in words (for the most part), so she must do so in facial expressions. It felt like there was more emotion and personality in her face compared to most of spoken lines in the movie.

Basically, some characters managed to provide some comic relief for me, but the comic relief wasn't enough to cushion the serious parts of the story. The story just drags, and the characters don't really make it much easier. They're dreadfully boring most of the time except for moments of humor, but the comic relief doesn't save the movie by any means. What it did for me was divert my attention slightly, then go back to the same old boring movie it is.

And I know I'm going to be smited for saying that it's boring, but that's just what I feel. The characters just aren't interesting enough and the plot is too stretched out and slow-moving. It would be one thing if I was actually interested in what was going on with the characters, but I just didn't like them enough to care. It's upsetting because I find the actual themes of the movie interesting, yet I can't seem to like this movie.

Before I finish, I will say that there are still a few powerful scenes in the movie. The final scene is definitely very powerful in a way that I can't describe in words. It's something that you need to see to understand how powerful it is. The scene where Antonius is speaking to the "witch" was also very interesting. It shows you just how desperate the main character is to find his answer. Finally, I found it interesting how Death knows nothing about what happens after death. Really, it was one of the most powerful quotes from the entire movie. It leaves us to think: Is Death an end, or a beginning? If Death knows nothing of what happens, is there truly a God? Or is it something that we make up on our own, varying from person to person? When he said that, it definitely got me thinking.

However, even though the movie made me think about things like death, watching the actual movie just wasn't enjoyable. It wasn't bad by any means, no, but it just wasn't enjoyable. It felt like I was watching a movie about different views on death, and that was basically it. I can't seem to feel what's "amazing" about this movie. I can analyze and decipher why people would find it to be an amazing movie, but I can't feel the same way they do. But that's just what happens in the world of fiction in general, I guess.