<<As such I don't know that it was intended to benefit Mary and Jos, although it had that effect.>>
The reason I thought it might have been intentional is after they leave, there is a shot where Antonius seems to register their departure, while Death is chiding him for his folly in knocking the chessboard being that Death has the board memorized. My memory of the exchange is that Death tells him it was a useless gesture, and Antonius replies that he doesn't agree. The expression on his face seems to suggest he is thinking of Mary and Jos.
<<Perhaps on a literal level someone in the group carried the Plague with them, and the irony of escaping from the Plague was that they died nonetheless.>>
For the metaphor of Death taking everyone to work on a literal level, you kind of need a reason for it to happen on a practical level, not just that Death is in the house and doing a group rate. For a while, I thought it might have been triggered the bracelet we see Jos take from the ex-cleric in the bar. We saw the scene in the barn where the ex-cleric is first revealed to be stealing the bracelet from a dead woman, a plague victim I seem to remember, then we see Jos take the bracelet and give it to Mary. Later, the bracelet gets passed around by members of the party. Since the ex-cleric is later seen dying of the plague himself, it suggests something he had on him might have similarly been infected.
But for that to work, the main carriers of the plague in Antonius's party would have been the ones holding onto it longest, Jos and Mary. And they and their infant son are the only escapees, while the others are killed wholesale. How did the plague miss both Mary and Jos, whether it was the bracelet (which I now sort of doubt) or not? The ending feels too sweeping, like Bergman wanted to make a big statement and was no longer observing the physical reality of the situation.
"Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life" seems to refer to this question when Death pays a visit to a similar group of people dining in an isolated house. They question him on how come they are all going to die at the same time.
Death tells them it's because they ate a tainted dish, the salmon mousse. They seem satisfied about this, obediently die, and assume spirit form. As they leave frame, one of the women (Michael Palin) pauses and says: "Hey, I didn't even eat the mousse."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tIg2nK67LQ
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kenny-164
10 years ago
slokes,
Well, perhaps my memory is really failing me here (I guess it has been near 2 years since I saw this film), but I don't recall it ever being said why even Antonius must die. My recollection is Death says nothing more than that it is his time. After journeying to the Holy Lands, presumably much fighting and dying there, the risks of the journey, and the Plague being about. We don't understand how any of those things directly caused him to die, or more accurately were identified as the practical cause of his death.
I never thought of hte bracelet as having that sort of significance, but you in any event are not comfortable with that angle yourself.
So I do kind of fall back to the irony of the others following Antonius with the illusion he will make them safe, and how their false understanding leads to their death. Not that it caused it - Death comes at no appointed time for nearly all of us. That is part of its nature.
We tend to at least to some level try and comfort ourselves that the timing of death has a moral component. Virtuous people, who follow good practices in health, behaviors, risk avoidance and the like, do in general tend to live longer. But even the most virtuous in such regard can be cut down by an unforseen accident. The fact is Death needs no moral basis upon which to time when he acts or put off our final day.
Having said that one can perhaps criticize the film for not providing any practical explanation for why all in attendance joined Antonius. But I am sure Bergman knew he did not present any such explanation. And yet he ended the film as he did. I think that tells us something, no doubt.
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wpw100
10 years ago
My compliments on this entire thread. Interesting discussion on an interesting film.
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