Sartre’s Theory of Imagination and The Seventh Seal

Abstract

The author brings together ideas from film studies, psychoanalysis and philosophy for a study of key films in the career of Ingmar Bergman. Drawing on ideas from Melanie Klein and Jean-Paul Sartre, films ranging from Summer with Monika to Hour of the Wolf are examined in detail. The book argues that Bergman, Klein and Sartre are connected through their central focus on imagination, and that this shared preoccupation represents a challenging alternative to dominant theories in the analysis of film and culture