Featured Audience Ratings

• Bob S

  
  Ingmar Bergman , 1918 - 2007

• Kristijonas F

  
  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… More
  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 sequence 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).

• Lucas M

  
  The Seventh Seal it's the dark representation of a falling country in a terrible time. Which death is the metaphor for all.

• Alexander D

  
  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… More
  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 picture-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

• Universal D

  
  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… More
  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 it I feel as if I'd been reminded, whispered to, what life is all about.

• Tim S

  
  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… More
  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 uncertainty 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.

• Chris W

  
  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 Plague.… More
  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 Plague. 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.

• familiar s

  
  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… More
  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 impressed 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).

• Greg S

  
  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."

• Jan Marc M

  
  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… More
  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 religion 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)

• Conner R

  
  It's one of the most important movies ever made, there's no question about it. However, it's also incredibly beautiful and entertaining to a normal audience. The Seventh Seal isn't just an "art house" movie, it really attempts to be something that… More
  It's one of the most important movies ever made, there's no question about it. However, it's also incredibly beautiful and entertaining to a normal audience. The Seventh Seal isn't just an "art house" movie, it really attempts to be something that everyone can understand. The plot isn't riddled with metaphors, the concepts are dealt out to us in such a blunt and obvious way that it's almost impossible to miss the message. I think that's a great technique and frankly, it's quite humbling of Ingmar Bergman. This questions religion in a way that it never was before and really hasn't been since, maybe because it's so flawless in its attempt. The Bergman/Sydow team is one of the greatest of all time, but sadly it's one of the most unseen pairings by the general public. In all of their movies together, there seems to be this mutual understanding of what is going on. Max Von Sydow always seems to be the most thoughtful character and The Seventh Seal is probably the best example of that. The character of Antonius Block is asking all the questions, much like Bergman is himself. Also, you can't ask for a more dynamic and completely fascinating person to look at. Most of the time he appears on screen as a tall and dominating character, but at the same time incredibly sympathetic. The story of The Seventh Seal is dense to say the least. There is more content in its ninety minute running time than a lot of three hour epics. Ingmar Bergman makes a habit in all of his movies (excluding the 7 hr cut of Fanny and Alexander) to make every single shot and every single line of dialogue mean something. This is a type of movie that you simply can't watch on a casual level or even take your eyes away from for a minute. So much is being told to us through images, sometimes even more than the dialogue. Bergman covers pretty much every medieval topic: plagues, religion, the crusades, feudalism, etc. Antonius Block and his begrudging servant essentially travel through a collage of the time period; something that's just really ingenious.

• danny d

  
  a second viewing was even better than the first. such a masterpiece, easily one of the best films ever made. the shots were chosen and executed with such care, and the dialogue is among the best ever written. a film about the search for meaning, and God, the movie perfectly blends… More
  a second viewing was even better than the first. such a masterpiece, easily one of the best films ever made. the shots were chosen and executed with such care, and the dialogue is among the best ever written. a film about the search for meaning, and God, the movie perfectly blends emotion, intellect, and humor, to bring a message that is still relevant more than 50 years after its release. full of wonderful cinematography, iconic images, and excellently imagined characters, the film has enough intrigue to inspire multiple viewings.

• Jim H

  
  Bergman's <i>The Seventh Seal</i> is a complex, intellectual meditation on the existence of God and surrounding issues of faith and spirituality. Particularly, the film focuses on the doctrine that suggests that God causes suffering in order to set Him/Her/Itself in… More
  Bergman's <i>The Seventh Seal</i> is a complex, intellectual meditation on the existence of God and surrounding issues of faith and spirituality. Particularly, the film focuses on the doctrine that suggests that God causes suffering in order to set Him/Her/Itself in relief. The film's strength is that it doesn't didactically propose an authorial belief, but rather, the conflict is resolved on a compelling, character-specific level. Thus, the film is able to merely present reflections on and challenges of faith-based discourses and allow us to walk away with more questions than we came in with. Additionally, the film seems to lampoon those with blind, ardent faith and focuses primarily on those who will always question. Another positive aspect of this film is the imagery. In most films, I fail to see the significance of visual poetry, but the opposite is true of Bergman. It is clear that the opening shot of the ocean is meant to represent constancy, indifference, and uncertainty. The chipmunk on top of the felled tree signifies that life will continue, indifferent to the death of one man. To watch Bergman is to witness one of the masters of cinema. Though it is set in medieval times, I was troubled by the film's misogyny, which seemed unnecessary. One could say that Christianity has a long, sordid history in its relationship with women; after all, I quote from Milton's <i>Paradise Lost</i>: "He for God alone; she for God in him." One could say that Bergman was satirizing Christianity in this film, but I don't see it. From what I can tell, women are merely helpers, wives, or mercurial strumpets who lead men astray. After all, one of the characters even jokes, "Without women life is hell; with them life is hell. It's best to kill them now while it's still fun." Yes, it's a joke, but there isn't much to combat the film's negative portrayal of women. Overall, I recommend this film for those who have questioned or are questioning the problems associated with faith. And if you're not, now's as good a time as any.

• Daniel P

  
  An original and heavy film that's gone on to become a classic of world cinema, Bergman's The Seventh Seal is at once simple and complex, earnest and ironic, sacred and profane, serious and funny. Appropriate, for a piece set in the Middle Ages (read Bakhtin, Rabelais, etc.).… More
  An original and heavy film that's gone on to become a classic of world cinema, Bergman's The Seventh Seal is at once simple and complex, earnest and ironic, sacred and profane, serious and funny. Appropriate, for a piece set in the Middle Ages (read Bakhtin, Rabelais, etc.). Where this movie shines is in its novel use of a classical metaphor to put a genuine allegory on screen - not the easiest of tasks. A film that does show its age, and one that's hard to understand without some background in religion or the classics, The Seventh Seal is both a simple story of faith lost or found, and a complex intertext that could be analyzed from nearly any critical angle. Essential viewing, though I don't know that I'm the guy who will watch it over and over again...

• Dan S

  
  Without question one of the most important films ever made, a masterpiece constructed by the well-respected film-maker Ingmar Bergman who takes a look at the "meaninglessness" of life, as a knight battles Death in a game of chess. This movie is loaded with philosophical and… More
  Without question one of the most important films ever made, a masterpiece constructed by the well-respected film-maker Ingmar Bergman who takes a look at the "meaninglessness" of life, as a knight battles Death in a game of chess. This movie is loaded with philosophical and intriguing questions, and the final scene of the film is one of the more haunting images I can recall. The chess scenes between the knight (Max von Sydow) and Death (Bengt Ekerot) are the best in the film. It is probably a little slower paced than most, but it is deliberately this way in order to take time to correctly assess crucial things such as the paranoia surrounding the Black Plague, as well as question God's existence. So in that sense, I did not mind it being slower than usual. It is definitely a great, great film, and one that deserves to be seen by any movie fan, for sure.

• Mike S

  
  True classic! I usually don't like these old kind of movies, but this one really captured me. Great dialogue and interesting story.

• Devon B

  
  The dark ages come to life in this medieval fairy tale written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was a time of fear: fear of the devil, fear of God, fear of the plague, but most of all, fear of death. Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) is a Knight returning home after ten years spent… More
  The dark ages come to life in this medieval fairy tale written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was a time of fear: fear of the devil, fear of God, fear of the plague, but most of all, fear of death. Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) is a Knight returning home after ten years spent fighting in the crusades. He wakes one morning to find the physical visage of death waiting for him. Desperate to live, he challenges death to a game of chess, after recalling stories of death's fondness for such games. The stakes are simple: so long as the game continues, he remains alive, and if he should beat death, he gets to keep his life. The knight, along with his surly squire Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand), continue their journey home. Along the way, they meet several interesting characters including a troupe of actors, a painter painting death murals in a church, and a girl whom Jöns saves from rape. In a bit of irony, her attacker is the man who inspired Block to enlist in the crusades in the first place (and thus earning the undying hatred of Jöns). The running undercurrent of the entire film is of course the plague, and it's effect on the psyche of the general public. The dark ages were full of the superstitious and the uneducated, people who knew nothing and were fearful of everything. In one scene, the acting troupe's performance is interrupted as the flagellators march through town, carrying on, praying that God will end the plague. Soldiers and priests condemn a girl to death, saying that her relations with the devil are the cause of the plague. Block knows he's short on time, and is searching for meaning in his life. His squire is more pragmatic and believes it's all of the flesh and there is no afterlife, nor spirit. Block's search for God seems in vain, but his search for life takes it's most noticeable upturn when he sits down to lunch with the actor and his family. Eating wild strawberries and drinking milk, watching the little baby play with his friends, he says "I will remember this moment in time always". Is life simply a collection of memorable moments, lost forever when we die? Is this the tragedy of life or the great beauty of our precious existence? Literally nothing lasts forever, and life seems to be all about pretending that fact doesn't exist, of being terrified of reality. The question isn't why is life so short, or why do we get so little, the question is, why we don't appreciate what we have.

• Cassandra M

  
  "I met Death today. We are playing chess" The overall theme of The Seventh Seal is of the human search for the meaning of life, in the light of the coming inevitability of death (for which the chess game is a metaphor). It is possibly the greatest expression of… More
  "I met Death today. We are playing chess" The overall theme of The Seventh Seal is of the human search for the meaning of life, in the light of the coming inevitability of death (for which the chess game is a metaphor). It is possibly the greatest expression of existentialism and humanism in film. The film is both timeless and utterly in touch with its times - some have interpreted the film as dealing with fear of the extermination of the human race via the Cold War going nuclear, and indeed the crusades could be the film's metaphor for World War II and the plague it's metaphor for the Cold War. Max von Sydow as Antonius Block is the archetypal existentially troubled intellectual, who is in search for answers about the point of life and the existence of God. Bergman surely based him on himself, one such deep intellectual. Bergman, the son of a Lutheran minister who later became the chaplain to the King of Sweden, later lost his childhood religiosity in favor of secular rationalism, and The Seventh Seal is ultimately an atheistic film. The problem is, if God doesn't exist, then, as Block puts it, "life is a preposterous horror". How can anyone face death, knowing the cosmic insignificance of all that precedes it and the nothingness that follows it? Isn't the situation hopeless, if we are just randomly evolved apes here by accident in an indifferent world which is "unknowing", which values our emotions and our struggle for survival no more that it does any other mechanical process? Maybe the meaning of life lies in socializing, friendships, love and human relationships. Block states in the film "through my indifference to people I've been placed outside of their society. I live in a ghost world now, inhabited by my dreams and imaginations." Later, when he is enjoying strawberries and milk at sunset with Jof and Mia, all of his worries seem unreal and insignificant. This is one of the few times in the film he smiles. If existential depression cuts him off from others, then that very depression dissolves under the influence of human warmth. But Block never gives up faith in God, and remains very introspective and introverted until the end. A better character to model yourself after might be Jons, the one character who seems to fully understand his own mortality and not get depressed by it. But the best models could be Jof and Mia. They are the diametric opposite of existentially introspective people, probably the film's happiest characters, the best representation of the film's "love is all you need" ideology. The final conclusion of the film seems to be that we are going to die and there is no afterlife, so the best we can do is to love others and feel loved ourselves. If Block benefits at all from his respite, it is through helping Jof and Mia escape Death, which, again, boils down to interacting with other people. Be an extrovert and live life in the real world, with real people, rather than in your head. This may not be such an original idea, but The Seventh Seal is a great work of art for the reason that it formalizes the idea, makes it concrete, and in a breathtaking way. It enlightens and entertains you, and is certainly not an overly cold, serious work, as many people seem to say - there is a lot of comic relief, especially from Jons. And the dialogue is incredible too. In the best scenes, every single line seems to add a whole new layer of philosophical meaning. Plog at one point states that life is "mad, that's what it is". Truth is spoken - but this film is a sort of therapy, instructions for how to live in a mad, meaningless world, an atheist's Bible, even, if you like. It is certainly a masterpiece - and I don't use that term lightly, but it is fully appropriate here. As strong a contender for title of best film, bar none, ever made as there has ever been.

• Anthony L

  
  Questioning faith and pondering the certainty of death, Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece is hauntingly beautiful, poignant and one of the greatest films ever made.

• Drew S

  
  A lovely, thought-provoking film that avoids easy answers. Perhaps the most colorful and complex depiction of religion in film, The Seventh Seal casts Christianity as a scapegoat, a warmonger, a lightning rod, a pillar of unwavering support, and an utterly irrelevant trifle with a… More
  A lovely, thought-provoking film that avoids easy answers. Perhaps the most colorful and complex depiction of religion in film, The Seventh Seal casts Christianity as a scapegoat, a warmonger, a lightning rod, a pillar of unwavering support, and an utterly irrelevant trifle with a collection of elegantly assembled vignettes. As Ebert said, its stance on good and evil makes no exceptions, clearly asserting the division between the two. Many educated people would argue against this notion, but it's the film's simple view of morality and complex arguments against the manifestations thereof that make it so affecting. If the movie is a little over the top in ways that movies of the 50s usually were (monologues, bombastic musical scores, and the like), it compensates with a stirring cinematographic presentation and surprisingly elegant performances. Deserving of its classic status.

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