The Seventh Seal (1957)

The Seventh Seal (aka Det sjunde inseglet)

If you know of one Bergman film – this one should be it. This is his most popular and most iconic work. The image of Death and a knight playing chess on a beach is one of the most well know images in the history of world cinema. But is the movie worth of all the hype? Well, without wanting to spoil the rest of the review my answer to this question should be pretty obvious early on.

The movie opens with the knight Antonius Block (the legendary Max Von Sydow) and his cynical squire, Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand) returned to their home country after fighting in the Crusades. Death (Bengt Ekerot) appears before Block with the intention of claiming him, but Block challenges Death to a game of chess – if Block wins Death will let him live, if he loses then Death will claim him and those he travels with. As Death is presumably a very busy chap, he can only play chess intermittently with Block, given Block the opportunity to travel across the plague-ridden country to return to his home and his wife. His story becomes linked with that of a bunch of travelling Players, including Jof and Mia (Nils Poppe and Bibi Andersson) who are trying to make a better life for their infant son. Another trouble for Block is that years of Crusading have destroyed his faith in God and religion, his journey is both a literal one to return to home and a metaphysical one as he searches for meaning and trying to put off Death as long as he can.

My synopsis probably won’t have done the film justice, it’s a film that’s very hard to sell to people because it seems so bleak and downbeat, when it facts it’s not just a momentous slog – the movie is full of light and dark, it is by turns horrifying and hilarious. There are dark scenes of despair and lighter sense full of laughter. The character of Death is pitch perfect – he is played as wryly sarcastic, in complete contrast to the sombre expectations.

I first watched this film when I was about 15 or 16. I was, and always have been, fascinated with cinema classics. I feel the need to watch them for myself to make up my own mind, be it good or bad. The Seventh Seal is a hard film to ignore; its impact is still resonating today. I loved it from first viewing. It completely knocked me sideways. Like so many others I had expected some dark and bleak medieval road movie, and was surprised to discover it was so much more fully rounded and multi-faceted than that. The acting is superb, as mentioned before the characterisation of Death is a stroke of genius; Max Von Sydow carries the weight of the movie’s themes and makes an engaging lead character (I call him lead but really the film is an ensemble with the character of Block at the character of it) and Nils Poppe is fantastic as the disarmingly naïve Jof. The movie is well shot throughout, full of images of light and dark. There many memorable moments, from the burning of a young girl believed to be a witch, to an actor pleading with Death for a little more time, to the famous final scene of the dance of Death.

The Seventh Seal is one of the most intelligent, beautiful, memorable, engaging, well-rounded films I’ve ever seen. I love it. Even since I first saw it, it’s been a permanent fixture in any ‘top 10 films’ list I’ve drawn up.

If you only see one Ingmar Bergman film in your life – make it this one.

Rating- 10/10

1) The Seventh Seal
2) Smiles of A Summer Night
3) Waiting Women
4) Prison
5) Summer With Monika