#0000A/#11: BERGMAN, Ingmar: The Seventh Seal (1957)

BERGMAN, Ingmar (Sweden)
The Seventh Seal [1957]
Spine #0000A/Spine #11

Blu-ray

2009 synopsis

Disillusioned and exhausted after a decade of battling in the Crusades, a knight (Max von Sydow) encounters Death on a desolate beach and challenges him to a fateful game of chess. Much studied, imitated, even parodied, but never outdone, The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet), Ingmar Bergman's stunning allegory of man's search for meaning, was one of the benchmark imports of America's 1950s art-house heyday, pushing cinema's boundaries and ushering in a new era of moviegoing.

2018 synopsis

Returning exhausted from the Crusades to find medieval Sweden gripped by the Plague, a knight (Max von Sydow) suddenly comes face-to-face with the hooded figure of Death, and challenges him to a game of chess. As the fateful game progresses, and the knight and his squire encounter a gallery of outcasts from a society in disrepair, Bergman mounts a profound inquiry into the nature of faith and the torment of mortality. One of the most influential films of its time, The Seventh Seal is a stunning allegory of man's search for meaning and a work of stark visual poetry.

97 minutes
Black & White
Monaural

in Swedish

1:33:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2009/2018

Director/Writer

Ingmar Bergman was 39 when he wrote and directed The Seventh Seal.

Other Bergman films in the Collection:

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: Crisis (1946)
#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: A Ship To India (1947)
#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: Port Of Call (1948)

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: Thirst (1949)
#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: To Joy (1949)
#0000A/#613: Summer Interlude (1951)
#0000A: Waiting Women (1952)
#0000A/#614: Summer With Monika (1953)
#0000A/#412: Sawdust And Tinsel (1953)
#0000A: A Lesson In Love (1954)
#0000A/#237: Smiles Of A Summer Night (1955)
#0000A: Dreams (1955)
#0000A/#139: Wild Strawberries (1957)
#0000A/#537: The Magician (1958)
#0000A: Brink Of Life (1958)
#0000A/#321: The Virgin Spring (1960)
#0000A: The Devil's Eye (1960)
#0000A/#209: Through A Glass Darkly (1961)
#0000A/#210: Winter Light (1962)
#0000A/#211: The Silence (1963)
#0000A: All These Women (1964)
#0000A/#701: Persona (1966)
#0000A/#961: Shame (1968)
#0000A: Hour Of The Wolf (1968)
#0000A: The Passion Of Anna (1969)
#0000A: The Rite (1969)
#0000A: Fårö Document [1970)

#0000A: The Touch (1971)
#0000A/#101: Cries And Whispers (1972)
#0000A/#229: Scenes From A Marriage (1973)
#0000A/#71: The Magic Flute (1975)
#0000A: The Serpent's Egg (1977)
#0000A/#60: Autumn Sonata (1978)
#0000A: Fårö Document 1979 (1979)

#0000A: From The Life Of Marionettes (1980)
#0000A/#262: Fanny And Alexander -- The Television Version (1982)
#0000A/#263: Fanny And Alexander -- The Theatrical Version (1982)
#0000A/#264: The Making Of Fanny And Alexander (1982)
#0000A: After The Rehearsal (1984)
#0000A: Saraband (2003)

The Film

Aa

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Twenty-four page booklet featuring an essay by Gary Giddins.

Commentary

By Bergman expert Peter Cowie, with a new afterword.

Introduction

By Bergman, recorded in 2003.

Bergman Island (2006)

An 83-minute documentary on Bergman by journalist Mare Nyreröd, featuring in-depth and revealing interviews with the director [see also Spine #477].

Archival audio interview

With von Sydow.

A 1989 tribute

To Bergman by filmmaker Woody Allen.

Bergman 101

A selected video filmography tracing Bergman’s career, narrated by Cowie.

Theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

By Director
By Spine #