MovieChat Forums > Det sjunde inseglet (1958) Discussion > What do Atheists think?

What do Atheists think?

posted 18 years ago by Voice-in-the-Machine
136 replies | jump to latest

I thought this movie was interesting and very well done, but a lot of people talk about how moved they felt after it, or how introspective it made them feel. In honesty, I didn't really feel anything while watching this, nor did it make me think about death any differently that I currently do about death. My guess for this would be that I am not religious, nor have I even been, and I have never seriously entertained the idea of an afterlife, whereas this movie is centered on a very personal battle of a man questioning his faith and his views of death.

So do people find that this is a movie that appeals most readily to those that do wrestle with the idea of religion and death? Or are there other patent non-believers that were moved by this film?

[–] tomservo7 16 years ago

I am an athiest, however, I think it important to remind myself when watching a movie like this that it is an artistic statement by a consumate artist. I don't know about Bergman's spirituality, but I think that he was trying to show how people felt about god who were living at that time. What their beliefs were.
Our beliefs are irrelevant to the story, my lack of belief is irrelevant as well.
This is my favorite movie of all time and I never get tired of watching it. My opinion of what it's about may change tomorrow.

[–] slyckfox 16 years ago

Our beliefs are irrelevant to the story, my lack of belief is irrelevant as well.

Well said.

[–] Krustallos 16 years ago

As an atheist I found this film pretty engaging. As others have said, it's largely about attitudes to death, which is something we all have to deal with whether or not we believe in fairies of one sort or another.

I think Bergman did struggle with belief and issues of religion and I get the sense that Block and Jons were two parts of his own personality personified. So probably the film is more meaningful to those who are still struggling with these issues themselves.

The film is metaphorical in nature and since "God" itself is effectively a metaphor, I think we have to take that into account in how we view the film.

I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Reaper 15 years ago

Given the allegorical and somewhat abstract nature of the film, I didn't have problems with it conceptually. I felt a bit of repugnance at the idea of the "witch" being burned, but I accepted that within the context of the film, she was probably at least slightly guilty (of something, anyhow).

For that matter, we're not sure if Antonius Block is even a Christian by the end.

I had much greater problems with a movie like Ordet, which is a more realistic film, and where the Christianity is more overt.

[–] lubin-freddy 15 years ago

The film is, in some senses, anachronistic, in that it comes from an era when people were wrestling with their faith, in ways less common today. Bergman came from a religious background, his father was a preacher (the church-wall drawings in the film come from his earliest childhood memories), and one can imagine the kind of crisis he personally felt after the war. How can God and Holocaust/Hiroshima exist in the same world? Either God is evil, or doesn't exist. The fact that the film ends with the artist as survivor is obviously significant.

"Sometimes you have to take the bull by the tail, and face the truth" - G. Marx

[–] adolphe-artin 8 years ago

Interesting thoughts, especially this, concerning 1957:

The film is, in some senses, anachronistic, in that it comes from an era when people were wrestling with their faith, in ways less common today.

and

How can God and Holocaust/Hiroshima exist in the same world?

But ultimately, I think you may be wrong. Two hundred years before, in 1757, it was the Lisbon Earthquake in 1755 (on All Saints Day, November 1, of all days) that had Voltaire, Rousseau, and the young Kant asking the exact same question. And today, there are merely other questions (on top of all the previous examples) that makes those who are spiritually inclined wonder.

I don't think people are wrestling less with their faith today: they just go about it more quietly , as our present world is much more introverted than a mere fifty years ago.

But I think that question will be asked for ages to come: all it takes is the inclination to spiritual thought. And I don't believe people are much less spiritually inclined today than fifty years ago. Not when they reach a certain age, and get fed up with all the empty, materialistic BS of this world. Have a Coke and a smile!

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] antirem 15 years ago

As an atheist I see my life as much more precious and valuable than I had when I was a devout christian.

Knowing that my life will come to a definite end places a lot of weight on my everyday actions. We don't have much time, every moment should be meaningful.

I've just finished watching the film, but I doubt I will be reflective as to its impact on how I see death or the meaning of life. I don't think life has an innate meaning and thats that. The film was very good, my first taste of Bergman, although others who do think about death in the way the film does probably take away more from this film.

[–] dave_wlogan 15 years ago

I'm an agnostic. I don't adhere to a religion but there can't be no creator because otherwise there would be no life, it's illogical. An afterlife is something I'm skeptical of, because our creator might be imperfect, who knows. I'm not trying to offend but I think the religions on earth may all have t wrong.

"You haven't got the feel of this at all, lad. Use all your voices. When I bellow, bellow back."

[–] Krustallos 13 years ago

If you believe in a Creator you're not an agnostic. I think the term is Deist.

But anyway, there's no illogic in believing life, which on one level is simply a chemical process, could have started without an intelligent being to set it going. In nature complex systems evolve from simple beginnings, not the other way around. And if you posit a creator (presumably more complex than his creation) you still need to explain where s/he came from, so you're no further forward.

I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.

[–] Jacaranda408 13 years ago

I think the film made me think more about how we live our lives, rather than wondering about death or if there is a God. When the knight says that people just live their lives in a kind of muddle and just go through the motions without there being any meaning. And he said he wanted to perform one meaningful act.

[–] konam 13 years ago

Atheism says there is no god. Period.

Agnosticism says that we'll never know if there is a god.

I prefer to believe that we dont know TODAY if there is a god or not - But there is no question that men won't dig for its truth, and its just a matter of time. My god, we have tamed eletricity and created electrical light, we can make a clone of ourselves and even create artificial inteligence - Do you know honestly believe that there is anything that men ISNT able to do?

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- He moves his lips when he reads. What does that tell you about him?

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] 13 years ago

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