It’s rare to see a film display such utter contempt for The Church and Religion, or at the very least, for man’s relationship with faith. It’s astonishing for 1956 as well. I’m not prepared to lay down any real analysis but suffice to say Seventh Seal leveled me with its clarity and depth. The juxtaposition of Max von Sydow as Antonius Block with his crisis of faith with Jöns’ (Gunnar Bjornstrand) crisis of humanity and stoicism was perfect. And while few actors have ever commanded the screen like von Sydow, Bjornstrand ultimately won the movie for me.

Apparently I was not the only one. Even Bergman felt that Jöns was more appealing to audiences but when asked about it he said that it was Jöns’ carefree “hedonism.” I think that almost misses the point. Antonius Block, while showing tremendous courage in spots, almost comes off us a hapless victim of his own belief/disbelief/confusion. Jöns on the other hand is resigned to live out what time he is given, but he is also the only character to take proactive measures against injustice and hypocrisy. He punishes the priest who sent them off to The Crusades and exposes him as a petty thief, robbing the dead. All the priests are portrayed as primitive and barbaric.

The only other characters who showed any sense of decency were practically simpletons. Films this starkly cynical remain rare, as they remain refreshing for me, not because I am that relentlessly cynical but because I value honesty. It’s too easy to create heroes and tell stories where the heroes always prevail but that’s just now how things work in the real world. And for all its supernatural drama, Seventh Seal is a very very real world movie.

Backtracking a bit, my sons and I were talking last night about preppers, those odd (hopefully) misguided souls who are preparing for society to sink into chaos and mayhem. My take on that is, if things really shit the bed and we’re forced to turn on each other for survival, just fucking shoot me now. That’s not a world I want to be a part of. Maybe I’d feel differently when faced with my imminent demise but I don’t think so. That’s where it seems to me that Jöns and I are alike; he was done with it. He had already decided that if this is the way things are going to be, then it really doesn’t matter anymore.

But truly, his humor and decency at his core gave balance to an otherwise emotionally and spiritually overwrought film. None of it would have worked without him.

To be fair, the Knight gets to deliver this one, perfect for a man who has just spent ten years confronting war and death overseas: “Is it so terribly inconceivable to comprehend God with one’s senses? Why does he hide in a cloud of half-promises and unseen miracles? How can we believe in the faithful when we lack faith? What will happen to us who want to believe, but can not? What about those who neither want to nor can believe? Why can’t I kill God in me? Why does He live on in me in a humiliating way – despite my wanting to evict Him from my heart? Why is He, despite all, a mocking reality I can’t be rid of?”

This was… heresy. The studios on the West Coast would still balk at this.