My thoughts on our two most recent movies...
The Seventh Seal
Having watched this last year in American History, I pretty much knew what I was in for. In fact, I enjoyed it even more, especially since I didn't have to fix on my eyes on the subtitles to know what was going on. Anyway, Mr. Bennett asked us which scene we personally found to be the most powerful... without question I would have to say for me it was the wild strawberries scene. It portrayed the bittersweet tragedy/bliss that is life quite beautifully. I'm sure everyone could recall at least one moment in their life where they were completely and terribly happy, but at the same time conscious that the moment is fleeting and will eventually be gone pretty much forever. The world, emotions, and personal relationships between people are constantly changing, and thus your personal perception of things are never quite the same for any two given moments. Therefore, however you felt in that blissful moment... you will probably never feel again. But while you in that moment, you treasure it for all its worth. And it's worth a lot really, I think those moments are what make life worthwhile...
So, there in the scene, the knight has one of those moments, and he says something to the effect of "i'll never forget your faces, the meadow, the strawberries, yadda yadda yadda... in this moment," thereby putting my sentiments into a nice little speech. So he grips onto the memory of the scene with his life, even as he's partaking in it. I think that's a pretty beautiful thing. Desperate, doomed, melancholy, yet sweet and powerful. An extremely mortal experience... moments like that are only possible because nothing is forever.
Another thing... although I maintain my stance that b&w movies give off a sense of distance and unreality because no one lives in a black and white world, The Seventh Seal plainly just cannot exist in color. I don't know if it's because it sets the mood, or perhaps because the storyline is so fantastical that it's just not realistic to begin with, but I feel strongly about this film being in black and white. I would go as far as to say that it makes the movie.
Signs
I'm personally a big fan of this movie, as I love M. Night Shyamalan's movies and the film scores that are written for them (usually courtesy of James Newton Howard). Except for his newest film, which I like to pretend never happened, MNS has come out with some really amazing stuff. For those of you who haven't seen Unbreakable, I'd recommend it. I thought it was a very original movie that tries to draw a line between fantasy and reality.
Anyway, Signs. I found it interesting that if you interpret the aliens as a symbolic representation of Death, this movie is in fact pretty similar to The Seventh Seal. Graham can be compared to the knight, Merrill to the squire, and the children to Joseph and Mary. In fact, Bo even has dreams or visions as Joseph does in the Seventh Seal. The aliens also have a similar role in Signs as The Black Plague does in TSS. Both bring death to the masses. The difference lies in the endings. TSS has an ambiguous ending. However, Signs ends with Graham's restoration of faith. Very cool, and good job Mr. Bennett for showing both movies consecutively, it makes for an interesting comparison.
That's all for now...
I think Merrill can also be compared to the squire, but not based on their beliefs specifically. I think based on how they feel about their beliefs, they are similar. Both were pretty resolute in their opinion of God, although their opinions differed. It can also be contended that Graham and the Knight are somewhat similar. Both started with belief in God (Graham being a priest and the Knight being in the Crusades) but after some horrible event (wife's death for Graham, Crusades and Black Death for Knight) they start to question their faith. The only difference is that the Knight was more inclined to WANT to believe in God, whereas Graham wanted nothing to do with faith anymore at all, and was completely convinced there was no God. The resolutions between the characters was also different. The Knight never got an answer about God, but Graham did (arguably). But given the similarities, I can definitely see your point.
ReplyDeleteI am not a huge Shyamalan fan, as I have always considered him to be a one trick pony. His movies just got less impressive as they went on. Sixth Sense was great, Unbreakable was good, I didn't care for Signs, I didn't get a chance to see The Village, Lady In The Water was awful, and The Happening was a disgrace. But to each his own. Nice post!
I agree about the strawberry scene. I even liked the little speech that he gave. Usually during moments like that in a film, someone speaking about how great the moment is ruins it. I thought that the sentimentality of the scene definitely made it bittersweet because it was going to come to an end soon. I think the scene would have been too empty had the knight not made his little comment.
ReplyDeleteOn the film being black and white: I agree that there is no other way the film should have bene made. But I do feel like black and white films are more difficult to pull off. They have to hold the viewers attention for more than five minutes, and in our times, color and special effects seem to do that trick. I always feel like if a color movie really stands out becuase of its use of color then it is as good as a very well made black and white movie. I guess what I'm saying is that using color can also be difficult, and I don't know how many directors really take that into account. I think you can be easily spoiled with color and to make something come alive without it is extremely difficult but important.
Hahaha... You know, Stephanie's original post and Nick's response are both so good that, for a brief instant -- just one, mind you, -- I was happy.
ReplyDeleteHats off to Stephanie for her connection between the characters in the two films. Nick is correct in pointing out that the link between Jons and Merril is a bit sketchy, but they're close enough, and Stephanie explains the differences in her thesis and handles it beautfifully. Nick is perhaps mistaken in saying that Graham is completely convinced of God's non-existence. If you recall, he intones, "I hate you, I hate you" during the asphyxiation scene in the basement. Can one hate something that does not exist?
Nick's taxonomy gave me a true LOL, Great, Good, ddin't care for, didn't see, awful, disgraceful.
And as for your favorite scene, I can only agree with you, and I wonder, dear Stephanie, if you are experiencing a "wild strawberry" moment right now, that is, during the spring semester of your senior year, a time you will certainly remember and hold dear forever, or even more intimately, right here in our film class, or yet even more so, right now as you read how much I (and others, I am sure) have enjoyed what you have written.
I put up a somewhat sentimental posting a few days ago, but I can wax even more sentimental when I think of all the bushels of wild strawberries I have shared with my classes over the years. And each year, the classes leave and I remain, and a new generation of shining faces sits expectantly before me, ready to eat yet more of those sweet berries. And each one "I shall remember as a covenant and a great content."
And after we finish this class, all our blogs will stand, linked together, as a record, a covenant, if you will, of the special time we spent together.
But now, I must conclude this annotation. My chess partner grows impatient.
Stephanie, these are truly brilliant parallels and ones that I completely missed, but you are absolutely correct, it seems to me. The fact of the visions and also the way that the Knight and Graham's faith is questioned is certainly the strongest connections.
ReplyDeleteThe wild strawberries scene is also the most powerful in my mind, because of its beauty and substance.
Thank you for a terrific post and thank you Mr. Bennett for you continually kind posts to us. I am glad that you were happy, even if it was only for a fleeting second.
Very nice comments, Nick, of course. I am sorry that I failed to mention that in the first comment, but you pulling all of the ideas together was quite brilliant in and of itself.
ReplyDeleteDeep. You obviously have an appreciation for good movies. I knew that all these films dealt with existentialism on some level or another, but you really caught the parallels. I'm sorry that I can't contribute to the comments list like Nick, Maria, and Jimmy, but rest assured that this is an exceptionally profound blog.
ReplyDeleteof course i get to this after 6 comments, but anyway, i really enjoyed the "strawberry" scene as well and there's a poem that reminds me of that scene. also, why does everybody dislike black and white movies? why do movies have to be realistic? i'll probably bring the poem and talk to you about this tomorrow in english..
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you said about the wild strawberries scene. In a film so concerned with questioning the meaning of life, and the existance of such a meaning, a scene in which they simply bask in their happiness, however brief, was expecially beautiful. The beauty is not only that they are having a moment of pure bliss, but that they are acknowledging that it will not continue forever. Their happiness is more fulfilling because they know it cannot last and it is therefore infinitely more valuable to them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what Mariya said about the speech Antonious gives is very true. Usually, dialogue has the capacity to ruin a meaningful moment (like in most potentially "meaningful" scenes in Signs). However, in the case of Seventh Seal, it adds to the scene tremendously. The dialogue shows that they are all aware this moment of peace is just that, a moment. This acknowledgement is what makes the scene.