The Seventh Sign

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel.....pregnant!

The Seventh Sign is one of those bizarre supernatural thrillers from the late 1980's. You know the type that I'm talking about: The soundtrack consists of classical choirs singing in Latin. The good characters are unbelievably pure in heart, and usually have very pretty faces. The evil characters all have deep, sunken-eyes and distorted, Burton-esque hair styles. The entire film seems to exist in a Poe poem, as it exploits strange, twisted camera angles that are surrounded by demons waiting in the shadows. The Seventh Sign features all of these elements, but, like many of its kind, it does not know how to use them effectively. It is a film moved by these creepy features, and much of the end-times, apocalyptic plot and character development become muddled underneath the weight of how the film looks, instead of a fair balance storytelling skill being brought to the table.

Still, what is effective about the plot depends upon the viewer's need to figure out the story as it unfolds, so I don't want to give too much away. I will only reveal that The Seventh Sign is about a lawyer (Michael Biehn) concerned with a murder trial, his very pregnant wife Abby (Demi Moore), and the mysterious stranger named David (Jurgen Prochnow) who rents a room in their house. David is a strange fellow with icy eyes and a calm, thoughtful persona, and he seems to know more about Moore than she does about herself. Eventually, Moore comes to realize that she and her unborn child play a part in the coming of the apocalypse, and that she must make a choice if she is to prevent the end of the world.

For the most part, this story is told with reasonable originality. An attempt is made to be fairly accurate to the biblical book of Revelation's depiction of the apocalypse, and the cast is all very talented; however, these qualities are undermined by director Carl Schultz's need to insert the creepy style and atmosphere into every scene, when he should have let the actors and the dialogue be the key generators of suspense and horror. Consider The Exorcist--what is more terrifying in that film? The scene where the demon-possessed child spits green vomit, or the dialogue between her and the skeptical priest in which she picks his brain and tries to drive him mad with doubt and guilt? Thrillers must be moved by their characters and our concern for them. The Seventh Sign is a film moved by its jump scenes and the director's desire to linger on the weird and distorted villains, and the film quickly runs out of steam.

The flaws aside, the purpose of this review is to discuss Jurgen Prochnow's character, the mysterious David. This article is part of my series in which I am discussing different film representations of Christ. I have selected it for this series because of its milestone in the cinematic history of Jesus; by my calculation, The Seventh Sign is the first film made about the biblical apocalypse featuring Christ as a key player. That David is really Christ is not a spoiler if you know this type of film; in fact, his identity will be so obvious after his first appearance that you'll wonder why Moore and Biehn haven't already figured it out long before they do.

As Jesus, Prochnow gives a thoughtful, wonderful performance that sets him apart from any other cinematic Christ. I don't see Prochnow as the charismatic leader of men that Jesus must have been two thousand years prior, but that is only because he has changed from the man who he was then. The years watching in heaven, it would seem, have not been kind. Prochnow's Jesus loves humanity, but that love is a curse because he sees what humankind is doing to itself with wars, famines, and other terrible plagues. He seems reluctant and sad that the apocalypse is coming, and he spends most of his time brooding over the fact that the world is going to grow worse before it gets better. He speaks in whispers, and he communicates with long, sad stares. He collects newspaper clipping of various biblical plagues sweeping around the world--plagues that he orchestrates himself--because he is more interested in the world's perception of his actions than his responsibilities as the man who has opened the floodgates of hell, to bring judgment to the earth. In earlier films, Christ is the redeemer, coming to earth to give mankind an opportunity to find salvation. Now, he has returned to separate the sheep from the goats, and it is a job that he hates doing. Prochnow's interpretation is mesmerizing, and it is the best thing about the movie.

Of course, the nature of the apocalypse is never fully explained in The Seventh Sign, as if the writers aren't sure how to handle it and fear that an unhappy ending featuring the actual apocalypse won't sell tickets. The Bible teaches that only after the pain in the apocalypse, God creates a new earth where the joys of heaven are brought back to those who have placed their faith in Him. That this film is about a woman's journey to stop the apocalypse, then, seems rather contradictory to the purpose of Christ's return. What's the point of delaying the inevitable, when things will just get better once it has passed? But I digress.

Click here to to learn about the many cinematic faces of Christ.

Cast:
Jurgen Prochnow: David/Jesus Christ
Demi Moore: Abby Quinn
Michael Biehn: Russell Quinn
Peter Friedman: Father Lucci

A TriStar Picture production. Directed by Carl Schultz. Written by George Kaplan and Ellen Green. Rated R, for supernatural violence, brief nudity (not sexual), and intense scenes. Running time: 97 minutes. Original United States Theatrical Release date: April 1, 1988.