This document provides notes from film analysis classes on the films Grand Illusion from 1937 and The Seventh Seal from 1957. For Grand Illusion, the notes discuss the symbolism and themes around class, nationality, and illusions broken by war. For The Seventh Seal, the notes outline the film's examination of existentialism and a knight's game of chess against the embodiment of Death during the plague. Key elements like characters, settings, and religious allegories are highlighted for both films.

2. 1937

3. Rise of Hitler and people at this time anticipate WWII

4. Made in France

5. Directed by Jean Renoir

6. Son of the painter Renoir

7. Based partly on his own experiences in WWI (1914-18)

8. Germany fighting US, Britain, and France (Germans vs. France)

9. Destructive on Europe economically

10. Based on prisoners of war of WWI

11. Compare the Iconographic Character and Class types

12. Pay attention to what they look like, how they move, and how they dress

13. Consider physique, body shape

14. Facial features, mustaches, beards, etc.

15. Dress, costume

16. Movement

17. Forms and props

18. plants, gloves, crosses, braces, musical instruments

19. gloves - getting dressed as if preparing to die dignified and with honor

20. crucifixes prevalent

21. Generals

22. same military class

23. they both see they’re position/officer class will be soon obsolete after the war

24. clean cut, up-right and professional

25. Middle-class

26. Thick, messy hair, burly laborer, shabby bulky shapeless suit

27. Not the tidiness of the Germans

28. Theatrical character

29. Jewish cook

30. Intellectual/engineer

31. Washing feet

32. What is the Grand Illusion?

33. The idea of escape

34. or War itself and the idea that war will solve political issues

35. Pacifist message

36. Life itself?

37. How many illusions are in the film?

38. The play

39. The gender switch

40. Victory ended this illusion, but also still an illusion of who is really the “winner” of the battle

41. Borders btwn. countries

42. Broad sense of where it was, but really didn’t know

43. The German General’s position

44. Actually a sympathetic character which contrasts with is stern appearance

45. French, German and English

46. Consider their use and possible meanings

47. Consider light and shadow

48. Consider how is the passage of time shown

49. Slightly ambiguous

50. Consider how space is shown

51. Also ambiguous of how scenes relate to a clear ground plan

52. German officer’s room

53. Art in castle, furs, well decorated

54. Was originally a chapel

55. A holy place/sanctuary to escape the war

57. 1957

58. Atomic bomb and Russian fears at this time

59. Bergman

60. Swedish

61. Theater director of opera and Shakespeare plays

62. Gritty film quality

63. Introverted human emotion in complex situations

64. Biblical story of Revelation

65. Medieval setting

66. The Plague suggests the end of the world

67. Vacant villages and houses due to the death of the Plague

68. Therefore it is the end of their time

69. Characters

70. Knight (main character)

71. Philosophical side

72. Jans (Knight’s sidekick, The Squire)

73. More of a physical stoic ‘hero’

74. Jan’s “girlfriend”

75. Blacksmith’s wife

76. Death

77. Jesters/travelling musicians/stage performers/artists

78. Witch

79. Lisa - lusty female

80. Hooks up with one of the performers

81. Builds on traditional Medieval and Renaissance imagery and literature about the End of Time and dealing and triumphing over Death

82. Prints of mortals playing Death at Chess as a way of putting off death (Knight vs. Death)

83. The Knight is playing for his life, trying to escape Death

84. The Chess game reappears as Death reappears and is fairly calm

85. Death of Macabre - idea that all people of different ranks dance off to their deaths

86. Flagellants

87. Torturing oneself to show piety and devotion so God would somehow spare you

88. Tavern people

89. Piggish and let the bad things go on

90. Going on with the crowd

91. Burning at the stake

92. Woman declared a Witch and how the Knight’s fate is connected with the Witch’s understanding of Death

93. Pay attention to music and how it is used to convey emotion of a scene and help define character types

94. Comic relief despite it was fairly serious overall

95. mix of emotion

96. Death himself wasn’t very scary, but actually has humor and fairly neutral

97. Existentialism

98. Questioning purpose of life

99. Alone in the journey of life

100. Knight dealing with death on his own terms

101. Ends with the musician family saved from and outwitted death

102. Artistic and creative spirits have visions that reveal to them things that common people don’t see

103. Christian allusions w/ Mother (Mia, a variant of Maria) and Child and the strawberry and milk Eucharistic sharing of the food

104. Eventhough the characters try to cheat Death (knocking over chess pieces and faking suicide) they cannot get away from it and Death is the only thing that is certain