The Seventh Seal Review

Number 130 on the top 1000 films of all time is Ingmar Bergman's 1957 epic historical fantasy, The Seventh Seal.

Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow) is a Swedish knight returning from the Crusades.  Upon his return, he is approached by a personification of Death, who tells him that his time has come.  To forestall his judgement, Block challenges Death to a game of chess.  And during the game, Block finds ways to help others come to terms with their final judgements.

Along with Wild Strawberries, the Seventh Seal is regarded as one of Bergman's finest films.  In fact, it has become a classic of both Swedish and World cinema.  And I feel that it is naturally a film that would appeal more to critics than to general audiences.  Like a scholarly text, while it will have a general audience, it would have a greater appeal to scholars and film enthusiasts.

Perhaps this is because of how intellectualised the content is.  it engages with profound topics, most prominently our relationship with death.  And it does this well, with the game of chess functioning as our entrance into this world.  It is closer to a plot device than anything else, but it s a plot device that works, with the white and black colours of chess being metaphors for life and death.  Although, I'm not sure whether the chess game featured enough for this metaphor to be apparent enough.  The film jumped around a bit, thus diluting the importance of the game of chess.

Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable film, which raises important points about our relationship with death.  Alas, I am just not intelligent enough to fully appreciate it.