1957 ‘Det sjunde inseglet’ Directed by Ingmar Bergman
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.
Max von Sydow Gunnar Björnstrand Bengt Ekerot Nils Poppe Bibi Andersson Inga Gill Maud Hansson Inga Landgré Gunnel Lindblom Bertil Anderberg Anders Ek Åke Fridell Gunnar Olsson Erik Strandmark Lars Lind Benkt-Åke Benktsson Tor Borong Gudrun Brost Harry Asklund Ulf Johansson Sten Ardenstam Gordon Löwenadler Karl Widh Tommy Karlsson Siv Aleros Bengt Gillberg Lars Granberg Gunlög Hagberg Gun Hammargren Show All…
Le 7ème sceau, El séptimo sello, Yedinci Mühür, 제7의 봉인, Det syvende segl, Седми печат
My first Bergman feature and it proved to be quite an intriguing one. The Seventh Seal poses some of the most pertinent questions known to mankind and that too in a very bare and straight out manner.
It tells the story of Antonious Block, a knight who is returning home after the crusades. He meets Death and challenges him to play a game of chess with him and in turn buys time of respite to reach home and meet his love. The film is a journey toward Block's home, his unending quest to know whether God really exists or not, and his meetings with people of multifarious kinds.
The film is filled with intelligent and contemplative dialogue of both kinds,…
Oh, this was great. Took me a little bit to get into it and get used to it’s tone (I’m like that with most religious films), but once I was in it....I was in it. Great ending and also LOVED how it was shot. The framing was super interesting and I basically liked looking at every shot.
i am terrified of the silence.
there is darkness and then there is the void. i stared into a mirror late one night, in a grotty college bathroom, and asked myself if this was it. i asked myself what total oblivion would feel like when i closed my eyes for the final time. i left marks in my palms, briefly contemplated the abyss, and then tried to go back to sleep. i confess- i showed up to class the next morning with dark circles under my eyes.
if there is death, there must be a god. if there is suffering, there must be a purpose. if bad things happen, they must be for a reason. human beings are loved and…
Max von Sydow was twenty-seven years old when he starred in one of the greatest films ever made. He died today. He was ninety. This is a movie about death.
My wife found out the lump on her throat was benign today and then I watched this movie for the first time in probably twenty years while waiting for her to come home from work so I could give her a kiss. This is a movie about life.
Death cheats at chess. Life cheats at death.
The Max von Sydow project starts now.
this movie is like someone yelling at you in a foreign language, you don't totally get it but it hurts
Much like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, The Seventh Seal offers a cross section of Mediaeval life and while doing so it comments on our race, faith and life.
I don't know much about Bergman, but this feels like a personal exploration of an artist trying to figure out how he relates to God, the afterlife and his own mortality. Bergman does this by constructing a deeply philosophical allegory composed of classic iconic imagery and intelligent, contemplative dialogue.
In the Knight we find a man desperately clinging to life. Not because he is afraid to die, but because he needs answers. In a plague infested world he needs to understand why his God is silent. To buy time he challenges Death to…
A horror movie where religion is the monster. The terror of faith being more frightening than any actual creature.
RIP Max von Sydow, 1929 - 2020
Max von Sydow was one of the finest actors to ever emerge from the European festival circuit. His career began in Sweden but he catapulted to fame with his collaborations with director Ingmar Bergman. He is quintessential male Bergman lead, able to perfectly convey the sorrow and loss needed to fill out the silences in Bergman's simple, stark films. From the disillusioned knight of The Seventh Seal to the suicidal parishioner of Winter Light, through to the despondent souls of Bergman's late 60s trilogy (Shame, Hour of the Wolf, The Passion of Anna), von Sydow brought real legitimacy and relatability to Bergman's philosophical think-pieces.
Of course, von Sydow's legacy transcended just being a…
