Bergman based this film on his stage play Wood Painting. The title of the film refers to a passage from the Book of Revelation, where the book or scroll that John of Patmos saw in an apocalyptic vision is secured by seven seals. The opening of the seals marks the Second Coming of the Christ and the beginning of The Apocalypse or Revelation.
As the Lamb of God/Lion of Judah opens each seal, a judgment is released or an apocalyptic event occurs. The opening of the first four Seals releases the Four Horsemen, each with his own specific mission. The opening of the fifth Seal releases the cries of martyrs for the Word or Wrath of God. The sixth Seal prompts plagues, storms and other cataclysmic events, and the seventh Seal cues seven angelic trumpeters. Each trumpeter is given a bowl of God's wrath, consisting of judgements full of the wrath of God. The seven bowls of God's wrath are poured out on the wicked and the followers of the Antichrist.
© Haydn Thompson 2024