THE SEVENTH SIGN
US, 1988, 105 minutes, Colour.
Demi Moore, Michael Biehn, Jurgen Prochnow, John Heard.
Directed by Carl Schultz.
The Seventh Sign is a thriller from the late 1980s, but is more reminiscent of films made in the 1970s after The Exorcist. It was directed by Australian Carl Schultz (Careful, He Might Hear You, Travelling North). Demi Moore is the pregnant heroine, Michael Biehn her husband. Jurgen Prochnow broods as the messenger - who turns out to be Jesus Christ in his second coming. There are special effects - but the film relies more on atmosphere as well as quotations from the Book of the Apocalypse with a sense of impending doom. Myths from Jewish tradition are also used.
The film opens in Haiti where a mysterious stranger walks to the beach, opens a seal of a book and throws it into the water which begins to boil. In Israel a village, possibly Sodom, turns to ice. This is the beginning of the apocalyptic times when humans will destroy themselves and the earth. It is also a time of God’s wrath. With quotations from the scriptures, including Joes and the Book of the Apocalypse, and their very literal interpretation, we have the ingredients for a religious and occult thriller. Rosemary’s Baby and The Omen come to mind with the pregnant mother, Abby, who may be about to give birth to an antichrist.
The mysterious stranger asks to board with Abby. He tells her stories of the past, of destruction and of doom to come. His name is David but he is also Jesus. While he draws on the Christian scriptures, he also draws on Jewish mythology about the Guf, a place for souls about to be born with images of sparrows. At this time it is empty. Abby becomes more and more depressed about giving birth and is suicidal. Ultimately, she believes that her soul can be given to her child as it is born.
There is a lot of dialogue on these issues as well as a Vatican emissary and a tormented priest, the embodiment of evil, a centurion and the gatekeeper of Pilate who struck Jesus on his way to death and, according to the legend of the Wandering Jew, is to roam the earth until the second coming of Christ, whom David confronts and events which are interpreted as signs.
However, David is revealed at the end to be Jesus himself, the light, the lion and the lamb and there are flashbacks to Roman times and to Jesus and his death – and the question is raised whether Abby is the reincarnation of the woman who offered Jesus water during his passion.
1. The popularity of this kind of film? The occult? God and Satan? Biblical and Jewish background? Christian traditions? Quotations from the Book of Revelation? The thriller genre?
2. American locations, California? Haiti and Israel and the strange phenomena? Special effects? Musical score and atmosphere?
3. The title, the Book of Revelation, prophecies, symbols? Fundamentalist interpretation? The use of quotations from the book of the prophet Joel?
4. The prologue: Haiti, the dead fish, the heated sea? Israel and the iced village, the basis being Sodom? The Nicaraguan scenes? The presence of David and its meaning? The references throughout the film to these phenomena?
5. The focus on Abby, her pregnancy, inquiring about the kindergarten? Her love for her husband? Her dreams? David's arrival, interview, snooping? His stories about the guf? Her going buying, the car, the temple and following David? Into the hospital? The background of grim news on the television set? Discussions with David, snooping with his letters, breaking the seal? The visit to the rabbi for the translation? The boy and his translation? Reading about the guf, the emptying of the souls from the guf? Imputing motives to David? Her beginning to be depressed about her pregnancy, the bath, the signs of her attempted suicide? The breaking of the sign, the biblical dream? The boy and the sacred scripture texts? Her interpretation of Jimmy and his death being the sign, going to the jail, her being shot? Giving birth - the joy of the child? Her being willing to die for the world? The downbeat ending?
6. Russell, tension about the pregnancy, his difficult case, the interviews with Jimmy, discussions with Penny? Relating to David? Abby in the hospital? Ringing the governor? With the doctor? Going to the execution, the shooting? Present at the birth of the child? His grief at Abby's death?
7. David and his travels, arrival in California, the aura of mystery? The apartment? The story of the sparrows, the guf and souls? His wandering the city, going to the temple? The breaking of the seal and his talks with Abby? Threats and intercessions? The lamb? Becoming the lion? Becoming the light? His being the reappearance of Jesus Christ? His challenging Abby to hope? His confronting the evil spirit in the form of the priest? Visiting Jimmy? His consolation to Russell? The significance of the saviour figure?
8. The evil priest, the explanation of Sodom, presence in Haiti, Nicaragua? Prophecies? The blood? His reporting to the cardinals?
9. Jimmy, Downs Syndrome, incest, the murder, God and the law, no reprieve, being the sixth sign, the build-up to his execution, his life being saved, being shot?
10. The boy and the translation, the moon and the blood, visiting the priest and the discussions with him? With Abby, the scripture interpretation, going to the jail?
11. The priest and the theological discussion, his modern interpretations of scripture? Antifundamentalist? Positive eschatology?
12. The evil priest in the Los Angeles rectory, the old priest recognising him, the photo? His finding Abby, talking about the signs? The dream and being evil? The Roman situation, the death of Christ? Being Pilate's gatekeeper? The earthquake and the gas? His death?
13. Symbols, the sparrow, their singing and their death, the seals and the Book of Revelation, the catastrophes, the empty guf, the dreams, the birds and the death of Abby?
