![]() ![]() Taking its title from the Book of Revelation, the film examines the knight’s crisis of faith during a dark period of human history, tackling issues of existential doubt and despair that touched a nerve with audiences living in the aftermath of the horror of war.įilmed in sombre black and white by Bergman’s then-regular cinematographer, Gunnar Fischer, The Seventh Seal convincingly evokes a 14th-century of dread and superstition and abounds with startling apocalyptic imagery, from a black bird on the wing against stormy skies to the final, silhouetted danse macabre on a hilltop.īergman returned to the middle ages for his Academy Award-winning 1962 allegory The Virgin Spring, again starring Max von Sydow. Roger Manvell, International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, 1990īergman’s allegory about a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) who plays chess with Death (a white-faced, shrouded figure played by Bengt Ekerot) was a landmark of arthouse cinema in the late 1950s. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives. ![]() “The Seventh Seal survives as a compelling, if obsessive film, visually beautiful but permeated by the lighter as well as the darkest aspects of religious experience.” ![]()
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