Det sjunde inseglet (1957)

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writers:

Ingmar Bergman (play)
Ingmar Bergman (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 October 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Knight | Plague | Chess | Grim Reaper

Awards:

7 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Gunnar Björnstrand	...	Jöns, squire
Bengt Ekerot	...	Death
Nils Poppe	...	Jof / Joseph
Max von Sydow	...	Antonius Block
Bibi Andersson	...	Mia / Mary - Jof's wife
Inga Gill	...	Lisa, blacksmith's wife
Maud Hansson	...	Witch
Inga Landgré	...	Karin, Block's Wife
Gunnel Lindblom	...	Girl
Bertil Anderberg	...	Raval
Anders Ek	...	The Monk
Åke Fridell	...	Blacksmith Plog
Gunnar Olsson	...	Albertus Pictor, Church Painter
Erik Strandmark	...	Jonas Skat

Also Known As:

The Seventh Seal (UK) (USA)
Riddaren och döden (Sweden) (working title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish | Latin

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | South Korea:15 | Italy:T (re-rated) | Italy:VM14 (original rating) | South Africa:PG | USA:TV-PG (cable rating) | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:16 | Spain:13 | UK:X (original rating) | Iceland:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Gustavsberg, Värmdö, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Trivia:

The last-but-one scene in which Death is dancing away with his followers was shot when some of the actors had gone home for the day, using some technicians and a few tourists as stand-ins.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: A key turning point in the film is when Death captures the Queen in the chess game between Antonius and him. But the Queen was not a super-powerful piece until centuries later when a recent chess-variant initially called "chess of the mad queen" became more popular than the classic game.

Quotes:

Death: Ingenting undgår mig. Ingen undgår mig.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cookie Jar (2003)

Soundtrack:

ÖDET ÄR EN RACKARE

Grim, but not entirely hopeless

Middle Ages: Antonius Blok, a Swedish knight, returns from the Crusades only to find his country dying of the plague, religious fundamentalists taking over and Death himself wanting him to come along. Antonius challenges Death to a game of chess and is meanwhile driven to desperation because of the absence of God. This description sounds like a very serious, philosophical and dour film, and actually it is serious, philosophical and dour; but there is also a little warmth, hope and humor, maybe not for Antonius, but for the viewer.

When Blok and Death interrupt their game of chess (due to the plague, Death is very busy), he meets two actors, Jof and Mia, with their little son, the most human characters of the film, and I don't think it's a coincidence that there names sound very much like Joseph and Mary. These people may be a little dim, but they are good at heart and you can see the happiness in Antonius' eyes when he is together with them for the first time.

But the main aspect of Ingmar Bergman's arguably best film are Antonius Blok's grim encounters, as the young girl about to be burnt at the stake, as a scapegoat for the plague. And the haunting image of a huge crowd of flagellants interrupting a play of Jof and Mia and trying to convince the crowd thery are doomed; hardly any other film is that direct in asking controversial and essential questions about God, religion and mankind as The Seventh Seal.

Another reason for the impact this almost 50-year-old film has still today is the acting: Max von Sydow's face always seems to reflect what Antonius Blok is thinking, Nils Poppe's performance as the naive actor and caring father is priceless and Bengt Ekerot's Death became a part of film history and survived all its spoofs (the best one being in Woody Allen's tremendously funny "Love and Death"). But the best performance is done by Gunnar Björnstrand as Antonios Blok's misogynist squire, dryly commenting all their encounters even in the face of death.

The Seventh Seal is not subtle in raising it's questions, that's for sure. But it makes you think about these questions nevertheless. It's disturbing and grim most of the time, but at the end it gives you the hope that it might become better.