The Seventh Seal (1957)
Starring:Max von Sydow (Antonius Block), Bengt Ekerot (Death), Nils Poppe (Jof), Bibi Andersson (Mia), Gunnar Björnstrand (Jöns), Bertil Anderberg (Raval), Inga Landgre (Karin), Gunnel Lindbolm (Mute servant girl), Åke Fridell (Blacksmith Plog), Inga Gill (Lisa), Erik Strandmark (Jonas Skat), Maud Hansson (Witch), Gunnar Olsson (Albertus Pictor)
Pic 1:Antonius Block knocks over the chess pieces to try to distract Death. Pic 2:Death enters Antonius' castle. Pic 3:The mute girl kneels before Death.
"And you'll reveal your secrets?" "I carry no secrets." "So you know nothing?" "I am unknowing."
Review by:Brunnhilde
The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Ingmar Bergman movie focused around a small group of people living in medieval Sweden during a time where the Crusades to find the Holy Land ended and Black Death was hitting Europe. The group included the knight Antonius Block, his squire Jöns, an actor named Jof, the actor's wife Mia, a mute servant girl, a blacksmith named Plog, Plog's wife Lisa, and at the end of the movie Antonius' wife Karin was added into the mix. There were also several people not included in the little band of traveling Swedish people (including the thief Raval and an actor named Skat). The movie is also mainly focused on Death, and how he affects them. Here is the plot:
Antonius Block (who has found his life almost completely meaningless) and Jöns have returned to Sweden after the Crusades in order to travel back to Antonius' house and return to Karin. However, along the way, they learn that the plague (Black Death) has hit Sweden and try to take routes where they won't get it. While Antonius and Jöns stop by the seashore for a day, Antonius is confronted by Death himself, who tells him his time is up. However, Antonius offers to play a game of chess with him, and makes a deal with Death that as long as the game goes on, Antonius will live, and if Antonius wins, his time will not be up and he'll be allowed to live on in peace (and, of course, if Death wins, Antonius dies). The two begin their game; Antonius plays white, and Death plays black.
The game goes on for a very long time, in which Antonius makes one or two moves per day and then goes on with his daily life. He and Jöns soon head into a town and pass the actors Jof and Mia, who have just performed but weren't really liked by any of the townspeople. The knight and Jöns enter a church, and while Jöns finds Albertus Pictor painting a picture of the Dance of Death, Antonius goes to the confessional and talks to a priest, who is actually Death in disguise. Antonius reveals that he finds his life meaningless, but wants to do one meaningful thing before dying-find out if God and heaven really exist. He also reveals what his chess strategy in his game with Death is, and the "priest" reveals who he really is and says that he will remember this. Block quickly leaves the church and sees a witch who is being condemned to be burnt to death for meeting and speaking with the devil, and tries to speak to her and learn whether or not the devil and God exist.
Not long later, Jöns goes to an abandoned village (which has been hit by the plague) in order to find water. Nearby, a mute girl finds Raval stealing from the corpses of people affected by the Black Death in a house. Raval is about to assault her when Jöns finds them and saves the girl, revealing Raval as the man who got Antonius to go on the Crusade and abandon his wife. Jöns promises to use his blade to mark Raval in a way that signifies he is a low-life thief the next time they meet. Raval leaves, and Jöns collects both the water he needs and the girl. He takes the girl away back to Block as his new servant.
Jöns returns to the town the actors are and enters a tavern to find Jof being accused by Blacksmith Plog of what his actor-manager, Jonas Skat, did (Note that Skat has run off with Plog's wife, Lisa, and abandoned Jof and Mia). Raval is also in the tavern, and has fun by forcing Jof to jump up on a table and dance like a bear. Jof eventually escapes, and Jöns confronts Raval and fulfills his promise by taking out his blade and slicing Raval's face.
Meanwhile, Antonius is waiting for Jöns in the country, where he meets Mia and Jof and Mia's son, Mikael. He has a picnic with her, and Jöns and Jof join Antonius and Mia after a little while. Jof tells Antonius about his plans to go to travel to certain towns and perform, but he doesn't know those towns have been affected by the plague. Antonius lets the actors know that if they come with him to his castle, they'll be safer from the plague; the actors agree to come.
Later, night is falling, and the little group are traveling through the forest. They bump into Skat and Lisa, who are being chased down by Plog. Lisa, who doesn't like Skat anymore, stops running with Skat and returns to Plog, who is only a short ways behind them. Skat agrees with Plog to do the honorable thing, and he kills himself with a knife. Plog and Lisa join Antonius' group. The others look at Skat sadly and then leave, but shortly after they leave Skat gets up, revealing that he is perfectly fine; he only used a fake knife used by actors. Skat climbs a tree in order to go asleep in it, but Death appears and cuts down the tree, telling Skat that his time is up. The tree-along with Skat-falls down to the ground.
Meanwhile, Antonius' group passes another group, which turns out to be the one who is burning the condemned witch. Antonius goes to the witch and asks if he can see the devil through her and speak to him in order to ask him about God, and the witch tries to help Antonius, but fails. Antonius gives her herbs to take away her pain and leaves as she is put up on a pyre. Antonius again leads his group onward, and when they stop for the night, Raval returns, suffering from the plague and begging for water and comforting words. The mute girl tries to help him, but Jöns holds her back so she won't get the plague too. Raval dies after a few minutes. Nearby, Antonius is playing chess again with Death; while most of the others think he's playing alone, Jof has a vision and realizes who Antonius' opponent is. Jof and Mia get in their cart and drive away, hoping not to be spotted by Death. Antonius notices Jof and Mia leaving, and when Death reveals that no one can escape him, Antonius "accidentally" knocks over the pieces in order to distract Death and keep him from seeing Jof and Mia (and perhaps hope to begin a new game, since Antonius is losing). Antonius says that he cannot remember where the pieces are, but Death says he does remember, resets the position, and checkmates Block, thus winning the game. Death, however, gives Antonius a little more time to live by revealing that the next time they meet, Death will take him away. Antonius again demands to know about the secrets of Death and what happens after one dies, but Death replies "I am unknowing."
Antonius, Jöns, the mute girl, Plog, and Lisa finally arrive at Antonius' castle the next day. They enter, and Antonius is reunited with Karin. Later, Karin reads the Bible as the group eats their last dinner, and suddenly a knock on the door is heard. Jöns goes to the door, but when he returns, he reports that no one was there. Then, Antonius' fears are confirmed when the person who knocked on the door-Death himself-comes in. Everyone except Antonius and the mute girl introduces themselves to Death. Antonius, who is already familiar with Death (and vice versa), prays to God by saying, "Have mercy on us, because we are small and frightened and ignorant." The servant girl then steps forward, kneels before Death, and says, "It is finished."
Meanwhile, Jof, Mia, and Mikael wake up to a beautiful morning in the rolling hills of Sweden. They exit their cart and talk to each other. Jof has another vision, and this time he sees Death leading on Antonius, Jöns, the mute girl, Karin, Plog, and Lisa away on the top of a huge hill in a Dance of Death.
My Review
In my opinion, this is one of the most interesting and brilliant movies I've ever seen. The storyline is simply brilliant, and gets people (including myself) to ask questions about life and death. I myself am a good chess player and I love the game of chess, so that is another reason why this movie is appealing to me. I also noticed some symbolism and relations between certain things-for instance, if you count the people Death is leading away at the end of the movie (including Death himself), you'll find that there are seven of them (think about that fact and the movie's name). Also, in Antonius' and Death's game of chess, Death plays with the black pieces; meanwhile, Black Death is rampant, and even Death's clothes are black too. However, in my opinion, the most interesting part of the movie is when Death says "I am unknowing." Overall, this is a very good movie that will definitely get you thinking.
Final Rating:5/5 stars |
| The Merchant of Venice (2004)
Starring:Al Pacino (Shylock), Jeremy Irons (Antonio), Joseph Fiennes (Bassanio), Lynn Collins (Portia), Heather Goldenhersh (Nerissa), Kris Marshall (Gratiano), Charlie Cox (Lorenzo), Zuleikha Robinson (Jessica), Mackenzie Crook (Lancelot Gobbo), Ron Cook (Old Gobbo), John Sessions (Salerio), Gregor Fisher (Solanio)
"The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath."
Review by:Brunnhilde
The Merchant of Venice is a movie based on a Shakespeare play that shares the same name. After both reading the play and seeing the movie, I liked The Merchant of Venice a lot and decided to do a review about it. Here's the plot:
In late 16th century Venice, Jews are being forced to live in a restricted "Ghetto" area. At night, the Ghetto is locked and guarded by Christians, with all of the Jews inside it. During the day, if Jews want to exit, they have to wear red hats that signify them as Jews. Since they are prohibited from the art of trading goods with Christians, the Jews practice usury, which is lending money that must be repaid with interest-and that is against Christian law. However, most Christians cast a blind eye on it. One day, Bassanio, friend of Antonio, a merchant of Venice, goes to Antonio and asks him to lend him three thousand ducats, for he must use that money to go to a place known as Belmont looking like a high-ranked gentleman and try to marry the daughter (whose name is Portia) of a rich (and deceased) father, and after marrying her, he will be able to pay off all of his debts to Antonio. Antonio explains that all of his money and goods are at sea on several separate ships, so instead Antonio tells Bassanio that if he can find another lender, Antonio will cover the debts for Bassanio. Bassanio later finds a moneylender, who turns out to be Shylock, a Jew, and Bassanio and Antonio (who is also present) tell Shylock how much money they would like him to lend. Shylock tells the two about his recent memories of Antonio spitting in his face and calling him a dog, and how Antonio is also an enemy of Shylock not just because he insulted him, but because Antonio is highly against usury. Shylock then presents Bassanio and Antonio a new deal-if he lends three thousand ducats to Bassanio, and Antonio isn't able to pay it back on a fixed date, then Shylock is able to demand a pound of Antonio's flesh to be cut off and taken as forfeit. After thinking for a moment, Antonio agrees to take the risk, and Bassanio receives his three thousand ducats not long later (note that Shylock was unable to give Bassanio his money right away because he himself was short of money and had to borrow some from a fellow Jew known as Tubal).
Meanwhile, at Belmont, many different high-ranking men are coming to Portia's house in order to take a certain test laid out for them by Portia's father before he died-and the test is that they must choose from one of three caskets (one being gold, another being silver, and the third being lead), and if they find Portia's portrait in the one they choose, they get to marry her. However, if they fail the challenge, they aren't allowed to marry Portia or any other woman for the rest of their lives. So far, no one has succeeded. A new suitor arrives, who is the Prince of Morocco. He chooses the gold one, (which has the inscription "Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire" on it) but instead of a portrait, he finds a skull and a note that explains that he lost the challenge inside it. The Prince of Morocco leaves, devastated. Not long later, yet another suitor, the Prince of Arragon, comes to Belmont. He chooses the silver one, (which has the inscription "Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves" on it) but Portia's portrait isn't in that casket. Instead, he finds the portrait (or figure) of a "blinking idiot." Finally, Bassanio arrives and chooses the lead casket, (which has the inscription "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath") and finds Portia's portrait. Bassanio therefore gets to claim Portia as his bride, and meanwhile a friend of Bassanio named Gratiano, who came along to Belmont, has become engaged to Portia's waiting maid, Nerissa.
Back in Venice, Antonio soon discovers that all of his ships have either been wrecked, captured by pirates, or simply vanished, and he doesn't have the money to pay back his bond to Shylock. At the same time, Shylock's daughter, Jessica, has run off with the Christian Lorenzo, a friend of Bassanio, and Shylock, after learning that this has happened, is enraged and even more determined to get Antonio's pound of flesh. Shylock takes Antonio to court quickly, ready to demand his bond.
At the same time, in Belmont, Bassanio receives a letter from Antonio telling him what has happened. Bassanio shares this information with Portia, Gratiano, and Nerissa, and Portia insists that before she marries him he must go back to Venice and help Antonio. Nerissa also says that she will not marry Gratiano until the case in Venice is settled. Bassanio and Gratiano agree with the two ladies and return to Venice, and meanwhile Portia and Nerissa make plans on how they can secretly help out with the case. Portia sends a servant of hers named Balthazar to her cousin, a lawyer named Bellario, who is in Padua, in order to obtain information on how the law works, specifically in Antonio and Shylock's case.
Meanwhile, in the Duke of Venice's court, the case has started. Bassanio offers Shylock six thousand ducats in order to try to get him to give Antonio mercy, but Shylock rejects it. Shylock insists that he must have the pound of flesh. Soon, a "doctor of the law" arrives named Balthazar (who is really Portia in disguise) with "his" law clerk (who is Nerissa in disguise). Balthazar/Portia tells Shylock about the "quality of mercy," but Shylock still says he must have his bond. Shylock is then granted permission to take his pound of flesh. Antonio is tied down, Shylock takes out a knife, sharpens it, and is about to plunge it into Antonio when Balthazar/Portia stops him and points out that the contract says Shylock can only take a pound of flesh but no blood, and if Shylock sheds a single drop of Antonio's blood and/or is the tiniest amount under or over an exact pound of flesh, he is penalized and all of his property must be forfeited. Shylock, now devastated and defeated, says he will take Bassanio's offer of money, but Balthazar/Portia prevents him from doing so, and tells him that he must forfeit his property anyway because he is a Jew who threatened the life of a Christian citizen, and half of Shylock's property goes to the state and half goes to Antonio. Balthazar/Portia also adds that his life is in the hands of the Duke of Venice. The Duke promptly pardons Shylock's life, and Antonio asks for his share to be given to Lorenzo and Jessica when Shylock dies. Antonio also asks that the Duke gives back his and the state's half of the forfeiture to Shylock, and the Duke agrees to, but on one condition: Shylock must become a Christian and make Lorenzo and Jessica the heirs to his property. Shylock, being finally defeated, gives in.
Not long later, Bassanio and Antonio go to "Balthazar," and offer to give "him" a gift before "he" leaves. Balthazar/Portia requests Antonio's gloves and, in order to test Bassanio's loyalty, asks for the ring his wife gave him. Antonio immediately gives his gloves to the so-called lawyer, but Bassanio, remembering his oath that he would never give or sell the ring given to him by Portia, is reluctant. He only gives it to Balthazar/Portia after Antonio persuades him to. Meanwhile, "Balthazar's clerk" (or Nerissa) also manages to get her own husband's ring from him, for Gratiano, like Bassanio, didn't know it was his wife in disguise he was talking to.
Later, at Belmont, Portia and Nerissa pretend the find out about their rings being given away and then accuse their husbands for that. However, just as Bassanio and Gratiano are getting desperate and somewhat irritated, Portia and Nerissa reveal that they were Balthazar and his clerk, and forgive their husbands for what they have done. Meanwhile, Antonio, who is also present, soon finds out that his ships have made it safely to port and never sank, vanished, or got stolen by pirates. The five then happily part from one another.
My Review
In my opinion, this is a very good movie/play. Before watching the movie, I read the play, and here and there I couldn't understand the play very well. However, the movie helped me understand it a bit better, as well as visualize things. I especially like this play because the way Portia disguises herself as a man to help her friends and loved ones reminds me of Beethoven's only opera, which is called Fidelio, in which a woman named Leonore disguises herself as a man named "Fidelio," and saves her husband, who has been in jail for cruel and unjust reasons for a number of years. Also, I compared the movie with the play, and found that the movie barely left out or added in anything, except now and then it would leave out a few lines from the play or occasionally simplify a few sentences and make them easier to understand. I would like to add that one of the most noticeable things in this play is that its villain, Shylock, is seemingly more of a sympathetic and tragic character than the usual "100% evil" villain that is found in most things. At first I thought Shakespeare hated Jews, since he wrote many plays with them as villains in them, but after reading this play and seeing this movie I do not know whether or not Shakespeare dislikes them. I'm not sure if Shakespeare was intending to make Shylock a character that you can feel sorry for and even cheer for a little, but one of my favorite parts in the play/movie is Shylock's "Hath a Jew not eyes?" speech, (although my very favorite part of the play/movie is when Portia talks about how mercy is like "the gentle rain from heaven") which I myself find very touching. Shylock's speech starts like this:
"Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs,
dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with
the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means,
warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer
as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us,
do we not die?... (etc.)"
Note that in the movie, Shylock makes this speech, and Al Pacino did an exceptional job playing as Shylock, especially when he uttered this speech. Yet again, I don't know whether or not Shakespeare wanted to make Shylock such a sympathetic character, but if he did, I would guess he would want to in order to either show that Jews were being treated very unfairly during his time, portray how Christians themselves sometimes didn't show mercy and wanted revenge (thus inspiring Shylock to do the same thing), or that he simply wanted to make things more interesting by having a sympathetic villain in his play so people would think and debate about things, specifically about the subject of the Jews. So, anyway, overall, if you want to start reading Shakespeare plays, I would recommend that you not only read The Merchant of Venice, but you also watch this fantastic movie.
Final Rating:9 1/2 out of 10 stars |
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