The Seventh Seal

            A knight returning from the Crusades encounters an apocalyptic scenario inspired by the Book of Genesis. He is approached by Death. The knight challenges him to a game of chess with hopes to postpone the taking of his life. On his travels home with his squire by his side he encounters a manacled witch, watches a band of flagellants go by--all of it foretelling an inevitable end to life. On the way he meets some traveling artists, Jof, his wife Mia, and their young son (obvious stand ins for Joseph, Mary, and the Baby Jesus.) The movie follows his journey home to his wife where death is once again at his heels, taking his life as well as those of his friends. The only ones that are spared from the dance of death are those that seem to be most closely tied to God, with an unwavering sense of their religious faith, Jof, Mia, and their son.
             This movie screams symbolism. Most obviously, the chess game represents the reprieve that one desires to take from death, and how individuals often illogically try to take control of something that they cannot. The knight represents the lamb, the one person in this film who is searching not only for faith, but also for concrete evidence of God and that he does or does not exist. He embodies tortured doubt. He has challenged death to chess in order to buy time to answer his inner questions. His quest is as much a spiritual one into his own psyche as it is a physical one. His life has become one that is over come with his fascination to find his manifest god, as fellow humans and art mean little to him unless they directly impact his search for God. Antonius Block, here, is the archetypical figure of the intellectual search for God, letting nothing step in his way, fighting for the answer to every question. .
             The Squire Jons seems to have found an answer: there is no God and the universe is absurd. He is the defiant unbeliever. His commitment is to life and the pleasures of the senses.