“Wherever you turn, your rump is behind you.”
A knight, Riddaren Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow), is coming back from the crusades with his squire, Vapnaren Jons (Gunnar Bjornstrand). They have been away ten years. When they return, they find that plague has ravaged the Swedish countryside. Block is having a crisis of faith when on a beach by the sea he meets Death (Bengt Ekerot). Not ready to die, Block challenges Death to a game of chess. They make a bargain. Block is allowed to live as long as the game goes on. If Block wins the game, he goes free. They begin their game. The game continues as Block and Squire Jons make their way home.
Jof (Nils Poppe) is an actor in a wandering minstrel show. He travels with his wife, Mia (Bibi Andersson), and his one-year-old son, Mikael (Tommy Karlsson). The leader of the troupe is Jonas Skat (Erik Strandmark). Jof has a kind of second sight. He can see angels and demons as well as the Virgin Mary. Their travels take them in the same direction as Block and Death.
Jons saves a servant girl (Gunnel Lindblom) from being raped by a man named Raval (Bertil Anderberg), a man Jons recognizes from his past. He threatens Raval and takes the woman with him as his servant. Later, at an inn, Jons saves Jof from being bullied by Raval. Jof and his family decide to travel with Block to his castle to hold up and escape the plague. As they travel Death travels with them, and the game continues.
“The Seventh Seal” AKA “Det sjunde inseglet” was released in 1957 and was written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It is a Swedish historical fantasy film. The film is set in Sweden during the Black Death.
It is a very artistic film that uses symbolism to express its themes much like the paintings on the walls of the church they visit explain the bible. That being the case, I believe that people will get out of the film what they interpret it to be. It is slow moving but still has interesting visuals. You don’t have to be religious to like the film or even to find meaning in it. I did enjoy it, but I was in the mood for it. I am a bit of a sucker for what I see as visually interesting movies. Sometimes even those that are not normally my cup of tea.
Even though Block never got any answers to his questions he still played the game, perhaps because of his genuine desire to know Death’s secrets, but most likely due to his hubris in believing he could actually win. All he managed to do is to take some other people with him. In the end, no matter what you do, Death always wins.
The title of the film is from a passage in the Book of Revelation. The passage is spoken in the beginning and near the ending of the film. It refers to the end of the world. "And when the Lamb had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.”