J2D3

I am Unknowing

Oh those irritating unanswerable questions regarding God, existence, all that jazz… Well, the 7th Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957) handles these perennial issues in its description of the meeting, courtship, and ultimate consummation of one 14th century Knight’s relationship with Death. The courtship phase is prolonged due to the game of chess that the Knight convinces Death to play with him. Death wonders how the Knight knows of his penchant for the game; “I’ve seen it in paintings,” replies the Knight.

The best conversation between Death and the Knight comes toward the end, after the Knight has lost the game and realizes that his time has come. He wants so badly to understand Death, existence, and whether or not there is a God. He is not comfortable with nothingness, emptiness, the void… He thinks that if anyone should know about God it would be Death, and so he pleads, “At least now tell me your secrets.” Death replies, “I have no secrets.” “You know nothing?” asks the Knight. “I am unknowing.”