The Seventh Seal (1957)

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Starring: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot

A knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.

Hailed as a masterpiece, I failed to get into ‘The Seventh Seal’. For such a short movie, there were too many characters and I didn’t understand why some of them were there or how they contributed to the film.

When Death comes for knight Antonius Block, Antonius suggests they play a game of chess. Whilst playing, Antonius shall be kept alive, and if he wins, his life is to be spared. Death allows Antonius to go on his way to do a good deed.

Antonius’ squire, Jöns, travels with Antonius. We meet quite a few people on their journey. There are the travelling entertainers Jof and Mia, and their manager Jonas. There’s a young girl whom Jöns saves from being raped. He insists she travel with him, because he will be needing her when he gets home; hoping his wife would be dead by the time he gets home (!). Then there’s a drunk guy named Plog who is looking for his wife Lisa. And all along the way, Death and Antonius keep playing chess.

There’s constant talk of death and the plague, blasphemy and mockery, and the belief of Judgment Day being upon humanity. I found all the talking too much, and actually quite boring. In addition to this, I also found the performances far too theatrical for a film, complete with monologues.

The final 20 minutes made the most sense, and were the most watchable. The film then ends on a thought-provoking note. Unfortunately this was still not enough to redeem the film for me and I will remember ‘The Seventh Seal’ as a boring film which didn’t interest me, ‘masterpiece’ or not.

‘The Seventh Seal’ won awards for Best Foreign Film, Best Foreign Director, Best Foreign Performer, and Best Film.

In Swedish and Latin.

Would I watch it again? No.