Movielogr

Rating: 8.5 stars

Tags

Criterion sweden middle ages Plague death chess performers knight

All movies seen on 01/23/2025

View on: IMDb | TMDb

The Seventh Seal (1957)

Directed by Ingmar Bergman

Drama | Supernatural

Most recently watched by leiabox, sleestakk

Overview

When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.

Rated NR | Length 96 minutes

Actors

Max von Sydow | Bengt Ekerot | Gunnar Björnstrand | Nils Poppe | Bibi Andersson | Inga Landgré | Åke Fridell | Inga Gill | Maud Hansson | Gunnel Lindblom | Bertil Anderberg | Anders Ek | Gunnar Olsson | Erik Strandmark | Lars Lind | Benkt-Åke Benktsson | Tor Borong | Gudrun Brost | Harry Asklund | Ulf Johanson | Sten Ardenstam | Gordon Löwenadler | Karl Widh | Tommy Karlsson | Siv Aleros | Bengt Gillberg | Lars Granberg | Gunlög Hagberg | Gun Hammargren | Uno Larsson | Lennart Lilja | Monica Lindman | Helge Sjökvist | Georg Skarstedt | Ragnar Sörman | Lennart Tollén | Caya Wickström | Catherine Berg | Mona Malm | Tor Isedal | Josef Norman | Gösta Prüzelius | Fritjof Tall | Nils Whiten | Lena Bergman

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

I saw this once before, I think back in college, so I was happy to finally revisit it. I appreciate it much more now, and its place in cinematic history. The iconic scenes and imagery have been parodied numerous times over the years, but there’s so much more. 

There’s definitely a lot of brooding dialogue on death and the existence of God, but there are also several lighthearted scenes. The cinematography is gorgeous (the Criterion blu-ray has a pristine print).  Max Von Sydow’s first of many films with Bergman.

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