The Seventh Seal [VHS]
starring: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe, Bibi Andersson
directed by: Ingmar Bergman
directed by: Ingmar Bergman
![The Seventh Seal [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412D1M83FTL._SL160_.jpg)
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Ingmar Bergman's 1956 film has been parodied by everyone from Woody Allen to Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, but it remains one of the strangest and richest classics of world cinema. Max Von Sydow plays a knight returning from the Crusades to encounter an apocalyptic scenario inspired by the Book of Genesis. He plays chess with Death (Bengt Ekerot), sees a manacled witch, watches a band of flagellants go by--all of it foretelling an inevitable end to life. Unabashedly allegorical and lyrical and existing in a world unto itself, the film is enormously mesmerizing no matter what one thinks of the weighty meanings Bergman has attached to it all. The DVD release has English subtitles, audio commentary by critic Peter Cowie, theatrical trailer, and Bergman's filmography. --Tom Keogh
Description:
Movie lovers will always return to The Seventh Seal, regarded by many as one of the greatest films of all time.Bergman combines symbolic imagery, realistic details, and wry humor for the moving medieval tale of a knight searching for God in a world ravaged by plague.As the honorable knight, his cynical squire, a troupe of carefree actors, and black-robed Death, a superb cast of Bergman regulars portray the cruelty and charity that coexisted during this dark era.
Ingmar Bergman's 1956 film has been parodied by everyone from Woody Allen to Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, but it remains one of the strangest and richest classics of world cinema. Max Von Sydow plays a knight returning from the Crusades to encounter an apocalyptic scenario inspired by the Book of Genesis. He plays chess with Death (Bengt Ekerot), sees a manacled witch, watches a band of flagellants go by--all of it foretelling an inevitable end to life. Unabashedly allegorical and lyrical and existing in a world unto itself, the film is enormously mesmerizing no matter what one thinks of the weighty meanings Bergman has attached to it all. The DVD release has English subtitles, audio commentary by critic Peter Cowie, theatrical trailer, and Bergman's filmography. --Tom Keogh
Description:
Movie lovers will always return to The Seventh Seal, regarded by many as one of the greatest films of all time.Bergman combines symbolic imagery, realistic details, and wry humor for the moving medieval tale of a knight searching for God in a world ravaged by plague.As the honorable knight, his cynical squire, a troupe of carefree actors, and black-robed Death, a superb cast of Bergman regulars portray the cruelty and charity that coexisted during this dark era.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- The Seventh Seal
During the Black Death's ravaging of Europe in the 1300's, the noble knight Antonius Block is returning home to his castle in Sweden after a several year long crusade to Palestine. Riding a few steps behind him is his squire Jöns, not quite the idealist that his master is, but still a good man in his own right. A day's ride from home, Death appears, declaring to the weary knight that it is his time and that he will have to follow him to the lands beyond the great veil. Block (played by the amazingly ... Read More
Rating: 
- 3 stars out of 4
The Bottom Line:
An interesting fable that asks a lot of questions, The Seventh Seal would be a better movie if Bergman knew anything about chess (or if it was a little bit more engaging) but it's worth a watch nonetheless.
Rating: - Most Popular Swedish Language Film of All Time
It is- just look at the rankings above.This movie is pretty much in the dictionary next to "art house cinema," for a certain population group, you saw it in college at the art house theater, for their children- watch the DVD.This movie is, compared to other Bergmann, a rolicking good time- so be ready to laugh- and despair.
Another good Criterion Collection edition- is there any other way to watch the classics of european cinema?
Rating: - Knight asks questions on our behalf, gets no answers
Or maybe he does, but not until after Death leads him and some of his friends away with him.
In stark black and white, the story unfolds of a crusader, just back home in Sweden after ten years overseas, disillusioned and tired.He asks if there is a God or not, how he can believe when he can no longer make himself do it, and why he has to die, among other questions.Death does not answer anything directly but is also not presented as an evil force.The plague is more terrifying than Death ... Read More
Rating: - Death? A Reason to Believe? 14th Century Black Plague? Readon
Simple, cutting, to the point; Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" is a movie with a message, yes, a message that tells a story about a man and his chess board. The opponent, a pale man with a simple mission greets the knight Antonius Block in the 14th century Sweden; returning home to a disease ravaged land, yes the Black Plague has eaten its way to his home. Job I mean Block meets his match in this cunning story that was put together one summer with a bunch of friends of Ingmar and his girl friend Mary, ... Read More
- The Seventh SealDuring the Black Death's ravaging of Europe in the 1300's, the noble knight Antonius Block is returning home to his castle in Sweden after a several year long crusade to Palestine. Riding a few steps behind him is his squire Jöns, not quite the idealist that his master is, but still a good man in his own right. A day's ride from home, Death appears, declaring to the weary knight that it is his time and that he will have to follow him to the lands beyond the great veil. Block (played by the amazingly ... Read More
- 3 stars out of 4The Bottom Line:
An interesting fable that asks a lot of questions, The Seventh Seal would be a better movie if Bergman knew anything about chess (or if it was a little bit more engaging) but it's worth a watch nonetheless.
- Most Popular Swedish Language Film of All TimeIt is- just look at the rankings above.This movie is pretty much in the dictionary next to "art house cinema," for a certain population group, you saw it in college at the art house theater, for their children- watch the DVD.This movie is, compared to other Bergmann, a rolicking good time- so be ready to laugh- and despair.
Another good Criterion Collection edition- is there any other way to watch the classics of european cinema?
- Knight asks questions on our behalf, gets no answersOr maybe he does, but not until after Death leads him and some of his friends away with him.
In stark black and white, the story unfolds of a crusader, just back home in Sweden after ten years overseas, disillusioned and tired.He asks if there is a God or not, how he can believe when he can no longer make himself do it, and why he has to die, among other questions.Death does not answer anything directly but is also not presented as an evil force.The plague is more terrifying than Death ... Read More
- Death? A Reason to Believe? 14th Century Black Plague? ReadonSimple, cutting, to the point; Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" is a movie with a message, yes, a message that tells a story about a man and his chess board. The opponent, a pale man with a simple mission greets the knight Antonius Block in the 14th century Sweden; returning home to a disease ravaged land, yes the Black Plague has eaten its way to his home. Job I mean Block meets his match in this cunning story that was put together one summer with a bunch of friends of Ingmar and his girl friend Mary, ... Read More
