I haven't had a chance to do the story of Oisin yet, so I'm making a change. At some point in the year, you will be watching "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." In order to "get" more of the jokes, you should be familiar with a couple of films--one of which I will show in part, another of which I will show in its entirety--starting today. I'm doing this in part this week because so many students are going to be out on Friday.
The film we are about to see today (after presentations) takes place in the Middle Ages, the period we are currently studying. The costumes, the traveling players, and some of the themes are quite authentic to that age. They also reveal truths about the post-modern world.
The film was made by Ingmar Bergman and first shown in 1957. Bergman, who grew up with a tyrannical minister step-father, struggled with issues of faith. This film straddles the line between faith and a lack thereof. It is existentialist in nature.
The Basics of Existentialism:
Essence and Existence (Theist): humans, made in the image of God, are at their essence good. The problem is that, because of free will and their existence as human beings, they are often turning away from their Godly nature. The objective is to move back toward that Godly nature.
or
Existence and Essence (Atheist): Humans are born into this world; therefore, they exist. There is no God, so a person's essence (whether he/she is essentially good or evil) is created by the choices he/she makes in life. Making the right (moral) choices generally leads to ultimate happiness and a fulfilled life. Making the wrong choices causes anxiety and unhappiness.
Soren Kierkegaard: 19th Century. One of my favorite theist existentialists. As such, he believed that essence preceded existence.
Man is either a spectator or an actor.
Truth is subjectivity.
Man's existential nature makes him alienated from God. His essential nature is his relationship with God. The goal is to go back toward one's essential nature in order to achieve true happiness.
There are three stages in life. Not all achieve all three.
Aesthetic Man: acts on impulses and emotions. Does not worry about the consequences. The Pleasure Principal (as Freud would explain it, or the Id).
Ethical Man: recognizes and accepts the rules. The rules make sense. If living in a narcissistic way ultimately makes one unhappy, selfless acts, and considering the consequences of any choice, lead to a kind of happiness.
Religious Man: the highest stage, according to Kierkegaard, and the most difficult to achieve because it is irrational. It requires a leap of faith.
Jean-Paul Sartre: 20th century. There is no God and therefore we exist. During our existence, we choose our own essence by the choices we make. If we are essentially good, it is because we have made good moral choices. Our actions create our essence. We have a certain amount of control through free will. We are also subject to the repercussions of the bad choices we make.
The protagonist of "The Seventh Seal" is a knight who has just returned from the Crusades. Meanwhile, the black plague has arrived in Sweden. Because of what he saw on his Crusade, and because of what he will begin to see when he returns home, he is suffering a crisis of faith. His quest has now become about the existence of God.
The knight is accompanied by an ethical man, Squire Jons. The Squire provides comic relief. The Squire was probably once just an aesthetic man, but has since become the ethical man. For him, there is no God, but that's all right.
Other characters will meet up with the Knight and the Squire. They are a troupe of traveling players. They go from town to town and perform bawdy tales that are supposed to inspire people to do the right thing so that they can get in to Heaven.
The main players are Jof (Joseph) and Mia (Mary). They have a toddler named Michael. Skat, another player, accompanies them and provides comic relief.
The movie starts with the Knight encountering the figure of Death. He challenges Death to a game of chess and the game is played throughout the movie. The Knight longs to do one significant, meaningful thing in his life. I won't tell you whether he finds God or not, but he does achieve a kind of redemption.
There are two scenes (also the music) that resonate in "Monty Python." One is the scene with the witch. Another is with the flagellates, men and women who beat themselves and each other to atone for their sins and to stave off the Black Plague.
