I can't imagine a universe where the Grim Reaper exists (both Jof and Block saw him), and in which the Virgin Mary and her Child exist (we know Jof's visions are real because Block also saw Death), but God doesn't. God must exist in this movie.
shareThe question, the crisis of faith that Antonious Blok experiences, isn't about the existence of God, but of his presence in our daily lives, whether he cares about his creation, and takes an active part to help.
I want to shake every limb in the Garden of Eden
and make every lover the love of my life
Good point, but I still think it's possible the silence of God led Block to question His existence.
sharePerhaps. We need to understand the film in terms of the period it was made, and the crisis of faith Bergman's generation was having.
We also need to keep the squire and Jof in the equation, as their views are part of the equation.
I want to shake every limb in the Garden of Eden
and make every lover the love of my life
The Seventh Seal can be taken by some of the religously faithful as a straightforwardly atheistic film, but that would be a mistake, imo. And that is true even apart from what may well have become a position later taken by Bergman which, in my opinion, cuold be said to be a "might as well be an atheist" point of view.
But that is not what the Seventh Seal is about. I think the OP makes a good point, though, that we cannot see it as a film certain of the non-existence of God. At the end we see the newly dead walking, apparently as spirits, to some new, deathly, state of existence. But they are still in a form of existence, and not pure nothingness. There is also the valid point about Joseph's own visions.
Even Death's own existence as a supernatural but active and intelligent force is not consistent with the conventional atheist view of such things, although it could be answered that the characterization of Death is metaphorical - the death, or entropy, of things is an active, but arguably merely natural, presence in the Universe.
Still the main point is that the Seventh Seal is not supposed to or ends up being a final answer to the question of God's existence at it is an exploration of the meaning of His apparent lack of involvement in our daily lives, His if you will apparent lack of interest. This is Bergman's own exploration of a crisis of Faith.
Bergman later, I think it is agreed after The Silence, gave off explorations of this issue, and The Seventh Seal arguably shows the basis of why he did so. It is in my opinion an ultimate expression of Agnosticism's "recognition" of the limitations we work within in assessing whether God exists, in the absence of faith, or in efforts to find God's presence in the world and our lives. Given those limitations, once we recognize them, there is only so much that can be said about them.
The only "answer" is in Jof's character - ride out the storm and get on with whatever you do.
I want to shake every limb in the Garden of Eden
and make every lover the love of my life