316. The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde Inseglet) (1957)
Directed By Ingmar Bergman
Synopsis
Death comes for a Knight just returned from the Crusades. Before he dies the Knight wants to know what is beyond life. In order to gain some time he challenges Death to a game of chess. Well, he never finds out what is beyond, and he loses on purpose to save people whose life he cherishes.
Review
For a film which has gained the reputation of the ultimate art-house, obscure, dour film, The Seventh Seal is a surprisingly funny, interesting, tender, beautiful and deep film. We had seen Ingmar Bergman's light humoristic touch in the previous film of his here on the list, and even if this is ultimately not a feel good film, that touch is still here.
All the characters in the film are brilliant, even if they are not much more than allegorical characters as would befit a medieval passion play they are deep of thought and character... well most of them are.
The influence of the film has been wide-ranging, albeit more to the level of parody of superficial aspects of the film rather than an imitation of the existential explorations of the thing. This is quite sad really, while the existential dialogue can at times be heavy handed, it is often quite brilliant, succinct and insightful. Highly recommended, of course.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The Seventh Seal was Bergman's breakthrough film. When the film won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1957, the attention generated by it (along with the previous year's Smiles of a Summer Night) made Bergman and his stars Max von Sydow and Bibi Andersson well-known to the European film community, and the critics and readers of Cahiers du Cinéma, among others, discovered him with this movie. Within five years of this, he had established himself as the first real auteur of Swedish cinema. With its reflections upon death and the meaning of life, The Seventh Seal became something of a figurehead for "serious" European films and, as such, has often been parodied in film and television.
Gotta love Scott Walker:
Synopsis
Death comes for a Knight just returned from the Crusades. Before he dies the Knight wants to know what is beyond life. In order to gain some time he challenges Death to a game of chess. Well, he never finds out what is beyond, and he loses on purpose to save people whose life he cherishes.
Review
For a film which has gained the reputation of the ultimate art-house, obscure, dour film, The Seventh Seal is a surprisingly funny, interesting, tender, beautiful and deep film. We had seen Ingmar Bergman's light humoristic touch in the previous film of his here on the list, and even if this is ultimately not a feel good film, that touch is still here.
All the characters in the film are brilliant, even if they are not much more than allegorical characters as would befit a medieval passion play they are deep of thought and character... well most of them are.
The influence of the film has been wide-ranging, albeit more to the level of parody of superficial aspects of the film rather than an imitation of the existential explorations of the thing. This is quite sad really, while the existential dialogue can at times be heavy handed, it is often quite brilliant, succinct and insightful. Highly recommended, of course.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The Seventh Seal was Bergman's breakthrough film. When the film won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1957, the attention generated by it (along with the previous year's Smiles of a Summer Night) made Bergman and his stars Max von Sydow and Bibi Andersson well-known to the European film community, and the critics and readers of Cahiers du Cinéma, among others, discovered him with this movie. Within five years of this, he had established himself as the first real auteur of Swedish cinema. With its reflections upon death and the meaning of life, The Seventh Seal became something of a figurehead for "serious" European films and, as such, has often been parodied in film and television.
Gotta love Scott Walker:
posted by Francisco Silva @ 2:45 AM
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