"You can't savor all the... little emotions. In... you see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are. So in a way, I know your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which of them were cowards?"
So in the Seventh Seal it's interesting that the forth wall is being used when the characters spill out there last words showing there true identity before their death. I think the directors take on this is fantastic, because of how death is able to become the audience. To the audience each character reacts differently to death coming. Some franticly pray and hope for forgiveness while others accept there fate and understand that it is there time. Ironically they are doing all of this directly to the audience, who they think, is death.
It gives the audience not only something entertaining to watch but an interesting aspect on how people react to death. The audience is unaware, but they are playing a key role in the plot. The knight who has gone to battle and seems to be the bravest of them all, cowards and turns to god as a last resort because death has not given him the answers. His sire accepts the fate, but seems to have no relation to any after life. The middle ground on these two different reactions is the silent girl who lets out her last words creating a great conclusion to all there fates. The forth wall as death is needed to get the true confession out to the audiences.
The forth wall has element of insight on the characters in the film which is an interesting aspect on how films have a creative style that are hidden to the audience sometimes.
Philip Shutler
This is an amazing perspective on that second to last scene in the film! I know what they forth wall is in theatre, but I didn’t even realize that it was being used here in this scene. I think that having the characters speak to the audience as if they are “Death” makes it more clear for the audience to understand the reactions of the characters and it also lets the audience have their own reaction since they don’t show how Death is reacting to all of this. Since the movie isn’t showing you how you should feel or think about the whole situation, it lets you have your own thoughts and feelings which I think is good, especially with this scene since not everyone has the same beliefs. So some people’s thoughts after watching this might be that Antonius Block was right in praying and asking for forgiveness. Whereas others might agree with Jons and think that there is nothing that comes after death. Either way you feel though, you are still able to make your own thoughts on it. They aren’t pushing any certain beliefs in your face by using this forth wall. I think it’s really good that you pointed this out about the movie because it made me think of that scene in a whole different light.
ReplyDeleteI find this blog to be very intriguing. I like how the author acknowledged how important the ending of The Seventh Seal truly was with us, the audience, taking on the character of death.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first watched the movie, I did not consider how the characters’ last words to death were words that defined their character, like the author of this blog points out. I like how you provided a quote from The Dark Knight, which fantastically illustrates the eerie possibility that humans really do show who they really are right before meeting death. The fact that The Seventh Seal chose to let the audience have a part in this creepy interaction between a person and the personification of death made the movie that much more intense to watch.
The author makes the point “The audience is unaware, but they are playing a key role in the plot.” I agree with this observation since the entire movie deals with the idea of death, and what happens when a person comes into contact with it. The movie shows the different perspectives of death, through the Knight and his questioning, the Shire in his avoiding beliefs, and even the people who are stricken with the plague, who choose to whip themselves in preparation for death. Since death is undeniably crucial to the plot of The Seventh Seal, I agree with this blog in saying that having the fourth wall being broken to allow the audience to become the part of death at the end of the movie was a very strong, momentous point in the film.
Katie Robinson