The Seventh Seal

1957  NR  DRAMA  1h 36min

CAST— Max Von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Nils Poppe, Bibi Andersson, Bengt Ekerot

MUSIC— Erik Nordgren  DIRECTOR— Ingmar Bergman  BASED ON— Wood Painting (play), by Ingmar Bergman

     Highly acclaimed allegory in which a world weary knight finds himself locked in a battle of wits with Death himself. Death comes to claim the knight but he first accepts a challenge to play a game of chess. As their game commences they study one another, engaging in meaningful conversation, neither one backing down from a challenging query. Meanwhile, all about them the land is laid desolate with people dying of the black plague. The knight, having just returned from the crusades, now sees the chaos around him and wonders about the meaning of life, about the existence of God, etc. Fine film for foreign film buffs and film students but from the viewpoint of the average movie-goer the entertainment value is sorely lacking. May take several viewings to sort out the details. In Swedish with English subtitles.

OUR RATING— * ½