The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde inseglet) poster & wallpaper
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Max von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe, Bibi Andersson ... see more see more... , ??ke Fridell , Inga Gill , Inga Landgr_ , Bertil Anderberg , Benkt-Ake Benktsson , Tor Borong , Gudrun Brost , Anders Ek , Maud Hansson , Ulf Johansson , Lars Lind , Gunnel Lindblom , Gunnar Olsson , Erik Strandmark

Endlessly imitated and parodied, Ingmar Bergman's landmark art movie The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde Inseglet) retains its ability to hold an audience spellbound. Bergman regular Max von Sydow stars as a... read more read more... 14th century knight named Antonius Block, wearily heading home after ten years' worth of combat. Disillusioned by unending war, plague, and misery Block has concluded that God does not exist. As he trudges across the wilderness, Block is visited by Death (Bengt Ekerot), garbed in the traditional black robe. Unwilling to give up the ghost, Block challenges Death to a game of chess. If he wins, he lives -- if not, he'll allow Death to claim him. As they play, the knight and the Grim Reaper get into a spirited discussion over whether or not God exists. To recount all that happens next would diminish the impact of the film itself; we can observe that The Seventh Seal ends with one of the most indelible of all of Bergman's cinematic images: the near-silhouette "Dance of Death." Considered by some as the apotheosis of all Ingmar Bergman films (other likely candidates for that honor include Wild Strawberries and Persona), and certainly one of the most influential European art movies, The Seventh Seal won a multitude of awards, including the Special Jury Prize at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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93% liked it

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94% liked it

48 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 36 min.

Directed by: Ingmar Bergman

Release Date: February 16, 1957

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DVD Release Date: November 17, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (3,452)

  • brooklynspo
    October 21, 2008
    brooklynspo
    Ingmar Bergman , 1918 - 2007
  • fb732260458
    November 6, 2012
    fb732260458
    One cannot deny the unsettling and polarizing power of this Ingmar Bergman classic. The haunting visuals alone are enough to send chills through one's spine, not to mention the weighty subject matter. The stoic knight's chess match with death will surely be the most memorable seq... read moreuence in the film, closely followed by the anti-climactic, macabre ending shot. I had no qualms with the movie's heavy religious discussion, as one can easily identify with Mr. Bergman's spiritual disillusionment. Structurally, however, I was disappointed. I felt that "The Seventh Seal" plodded along without much aim, the uncompromising subject matter weighing it down even further. Some of the acting was rather shoddy, and the film never reached any sort of satisfying resolution (which was obviously the point, but I digress).
  • fb100002359227440
    August 3, 2012
    fb100002359227440
    The Seventh Seal it's the dark representation of a falling country in a terrible time. Which death is the metaphor for all.
  • spielberg00
    July 30, 2012
    spielberg00
    Have you ever talked with someone who makes it clear he or she has a point to make, but instead rambles on and on endlessly and only once or twice makes a brief remark relevant to his or her point? If there's a film that represents that person, it's THE SEVENTH SEAL. The pictur... read moree-often considered one of the all-time great films, as is filmmaker Bergman-opens with a title card and begins with about fifteen minutes devoted to an interesting story. In Sweden, during the time of the Black Plague, a young man (Max von Sydow) plays games of chess with the figure "Death" (Bengt Ekerot) as he furthers into his questions about life, death, and God. With that philosophical premise, one would hope for a moving, thought-provoking story. Sadly, the story barely moves on; instead, it meanders while featuring silly, monotonously spoken characters, unintentional humor, and quizzical plot points.

    read it all at themoviefreakblog.com
  • UniversalDreamer
    June 15, 2012
    UniversalDreamer
    What's it all about, Alfie? In a life with pain and torment and Death (yes, that one certain voice in an uncertain existence, yes) everywhere, what is the point? An honest, if obvious, speculation artfully considered, entertained, by the Swedish grandmaster. Every time I see i... read moret I feel as if I'd been reminded, whispered to, what life is all about.
  • FilmFanatik
    February 20, 2012
    FilmFanatik
    Merely calling The Seventh Seal a classic film just doesn't do it any justice. The film is a masterpiece - one that is thought-provoking and hauntingly beautiful. The simple tale of a man who plays chess with death in search of answers regarding religion, humanity and the uncerta... read moreinty of what lies beyond has been echoed, parodied and just flat out ripped off since the film first made it to the US in 1957. It also solidified Ingmar Bergman's reputation as a visual poet and a true auteur of the medium. He would follow with other classic films that tackled different subject matter and visuals, but it's The Seventh Seal that will always be his magnum opus AND the film that he is most known for. A true work of art from one of cinema's finest.
  • cosmo313
    September 22, 2011
    cosmo313
    So who would have thought that Death enjoys playing chess? In all seriousness though, this truly is an excellent film that lives up to all of the praise it gets.

    The story concerns a Swedish knight who returns home after years of fighting in crusades to a land ravaged by the Pla... read moregue. He has come to believe that God doesn't exist, and despite being disillusioned with the world, isn't ready to leave it just yet. Whe nDeath comes to claim him, the knight challenges him to a game of chess (it's a pick up game that starts and stops instead of being played all at once) on the condition that if the knight wins, he gets to keep on living.

    This all sounds like a very heavy film, and yeah, it is, but it's all presented in a very entertaining way, so the heavy meditations on life, death, faith, and man's search for meaning don't come off as bloated pretentiousness but instead wonderful thigns to think about as the audience follows the knight going across the land meeting up with all sorts of people that help him better understand the world as he continually plans his straetgy for his game with death.

    This is just an absolutely beautfiul film, both to look at thanks to the wonderful cinematography and images, and it's overall message filled with allegory and symbolism. It is a period piece, but Bergman wasn't trying to make a strict historically accurate film. That's okay though because it would have been hard to do that and simultaneously make it the richly symbolic work of art that it is.

    In a way, this might be one of the most interesting films I've seen, even though the concept isn't totally new. It definitely feels like visual poetry, and I can recognize the vast influence this thing has had ever since its release. Besides having a great look and being fascinating, this film has some good performances (especially from Max von Sydow and Bengt Ekerot) and some pretty good writing.

    You should really see it. It's quite an experience.
  • imrealgod
    September 21, 2011
    imrealgod
    Being considered as one of the greatest movies ever, I'd wished to watch it since long but not overtly curious. And finally I gave it a chance.

    Penned intelligently, the parody does its trick and the performances add to its strength. The acting is par excellence but what impress... read moreed me the most was the execution of the movie. Ir's presented rather entertainingly which might otherwise have gotten too preachy.

    The movie lived up to my expectations which is something I wasn't quite expecting from it (even after taking into account that it's a masterpiece).
  • 366weirdmovies
    September 15, 2011
    366weirdmovies
    A knight returning from the Crusades plays chess with Death in a countryside stricken with the plague. Great gloomy masterpiece that bludgeons you on the head with the message "you're going to die... no one can save you... and it's going to be HORRIBLE."
  • fb1216165431
    September 9, 2011
    fb1216165431
    The Seventh Seal explores a discontented and weak faith, a pursuit for the absolute truth, and a proposal for Death. Intellectually grand. Emotionally gripping. Spiritually stimulating. An existentialist work by Ingmar Bergman that is bound to intimidate faith and the concept of ... read morereligion in general. What of a person such as I am before the Holy Grail of world cinema? "Soli Deo Gloria" (To God Alone The Glory)

View All The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde inseglet) Reviews

Critic Reviews

John Monaghan
December 7, 2007
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press

Its view of a seemingly godless landscape in the grip of plague is still bold and frightening. Full Review

Dave Kehr
July 30, 2007
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

It survives today only as an unusually pure example of a typical 50s art-film strategy: the attempt to make the most modern and most popular of art forms acceptable to the intelligentsia by forcing it... Full Review

Wally Hammond
February 9, 2006
Wally Hammond, Time Out

Not only highly impressive but thought-provoking, relevant and intensely moving in our present, nervous, times. Full Review

Bosley Crowther
May 20, 2003
Bosley Crowther, New York Times

Essentially intellectual, yet emotionally stimulating, too, it is as tough -- and rewarding -- a screen challenge as the moviegoer has had to face this year. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This is an uncompromising film, regarding good and evil with the same simplicity and faith as its hero. Full Review

Scott Nash
January 17, 2012
Scott Nash, Three Movie Buffs

90 minutes of iconic imagery, some deep questions and a surprising amount of humor. This is Art with a capital A, but that doesn't mean it's not entertaining at the same time, which only makes its art... Full Review

Emanuel Levy
June 16, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Ingmar Bergman's provocative existential drama was the first to garner him great international attention. Full Review

Charles Cassady
December 15, 2010
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media

Symbolism-filled classic a tough sell for kids. Full Review

Christopher Lloyd
September 13, 2010
Christopher Lloyd, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The Seventh Seal is a film not about the end of time, but the silence between man and God. Full Review

Christopher Long
July 25, 2009
Christopher Long, Movie Metropolis

Bergman's film about the actual figure of Death is one of his funniest and, ultimately, most hopeful works. Full Review

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Facts

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    • The Knight Antonius Block: Is it so terribly inconceivable to comprehend God with one's senses? Why does he hide in a cloud of half-promises and unseen miracles? How can we believe in the faithful when we lack faith? What will happen to us who want to believe, but can not? What about those who neither want to nor can believe? Why can't I kill God in me? Why does He live on in me in a humiliating way - despite my wanting to evict Him from my heart? Why is He, despite all, a mocking reality I can't be rid of?
    • Death: You won't get off that EASY.
    • The Knight Antonius Block: I want knowledge! Not faith, not assumptions, but knowledge. I want God to stretch out His hand, uncover His face and speak to me.
    • Death: But He remains silent.
    • The Knight Antonius Block: I call out to Him in the darkness. But it's as if no one was there.
    • The Knight Antonius Block: Perhaps there isn't anyone.
    • The Girl: It is finished.
    • The Knight Antonius Block: No man can live faced with death, knowing everything's nothingness.
    • Jons: If everything is imperfect in this world, love is perfect in its imperfection.
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The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde inseglet) Trivia

The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde inse... Trivia

  • What is the name of the knight in the 1957 Swedish movie "Det sjunde inseglet" (The Seventh Seal)?  Answer »
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