Amanda: Seventh Seal

I found this film very interesting in further understanding the Middle Ages and the role of the church during this time. I’ve always found this time period to be particularly hard to relate to and imagine in my mind when reflecting on history, and the visual depiction in this film helped me understand it more while provoking thoughts for further discussion.
In particular, I found the characters to be extremely well written and each one of their attitudes toward life and death to be accurate to those mirrored in the real world. Although I can completely relate to the knight, and saw myself in his character several times throughout the film, I found the squire incredibly interesting and I actually came to admired his character. I was drawn to the way he dealt with such difficult circumstances, and how he often acted the exact opposite of the knight, the character I would have most likely acted like if put in the same situations.
In particular, I absolutely loved the squire’s reaction to the knight’s many questions, and the quote “feel to the very end the triumph of being alive!” really stuck with me long after the film. In a time period where life and death was so uncertain he saw no point in filling one’s mind with thoughts of judgment day and the afterlife, he instead chose to get as much as he could out of each day. I particularly enjoyed this concept because I often struggle with living in the moment and accepting the uncertainty of the future. While the knight is wrestling with what it is to be alive and to die, and what will come of him in the afterlife, he chooses to live before death catches up with him. He also does this in such a sarcastic, humorous way that he doesn’t let the little or even big trials of life get him down, he just lives the best way he knows how.
One of the parts of the film that shocked me the most was the depiction of the bizarre people roaming the streets warning people that the plague was a result of God’s wrath. When these people entered the town whipping each other, carrying crosses and crowns of thorns I found this to be extremely disturbing, yet and important point for myself in better understanding the time period. These people honestly believed that by acknowledging their sin and punishing themselves they gave themselves a better chance of being spared my God and surviving the plague. Just as I became totally wrapped up in this thought, while still being repulsed by the visual on the screen, the squire chimed in making a joke about this gruesome act. To anyone else, this would be absolutely horrifying to see taking place right in front of them, yet even in this moment he finds the humor and lightness of life.
There are so many difficult questions we must face every day, and this class has provoked so many more which require us to look within ourselves and come up with some sort of answer to understanding ultimate reality. There is something very exciting and fresh in the squire’s nonchalant attitude toward finding ultimate meaning to life, and I think it is something I think we could all use a reminder of more often. I will end with another one of my favorite examples of this great character and hope that his role in the film lightened the load of life for you as it did me:

Squire: “If everything is imperfect in this world, love is perfect in its imperfection”
Plog: “You’re lucky, you believe your own twaddle.”
Squire: “Who says I believe it? But I like giving advice.”