The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal is a 1957 film directed by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman about Antonius Block, a knight played by Max von Sydow, who returns from the Crusades to find that the Black Plague is decimating his homeland, and that Death (Bengt Ekerot) is waiting for him, too.
Fast Facts:
- Title is in reference to a passage from the Book of Revelation
- Adapted from Bergman's play Painting on Wood
- Shot in 35 days
- The opening scenes were shot at Hovs Hallar, a rocky beach in Scania
- Won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1957
Brief Background
The Seventh Seal is an allegorical film which explores the nature of human existence, and the meaning we give to life and its partner death. The film derives its title from the Book of Revelation, the apocalyptic final book of the New Testament. The film provides a largely cynical view on the role of clergymen in interpreting such issues, and provides a series of characters who greet the onset of death in differing ways. An acrobat and his family possess a simple spirituality which emphasizes play and joy even in the midst of terror; a squire evinces an atheistic view on life but seeks to help others out of compassion; and the knight encounters despair, but eventually summons the courage to persevere in order to save others.
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