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Seeing as The Seventh Seal became the first film from Ingmar Bergman that I had in my possession and perhaps is his most famous film, I just had absolutely no idea what to expect. I thought it was absolutely brilliant and it kept a firm hold on me from start to finish and I have got to admit that it is an underrated film from an underrated director. It is a very artistic film that reminded me a lot of Nosferatu regarding production. Also, there was surprisingly moments where there would be ornaments used that are told in stories from the Bible such as the crosses.
It is a story set in Sweden of a knight with the name of Antonius Block who returns to Sweden with his squire Jöns, from a Crusade and finds that his home country of Sweden is being ravaged by the plague. To his dismay, Death has come for him, as well. He challenges Death to a chess match. Death agrees to the terms: as long as Block resists, he lives. If he wins, he shall go free. I mean, just by looking at the cover and some of the still pictures and perhaps the dialogue itself, it sort of did look a bit like a horror film but there was nothing horror about it at all. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a thriller either. I mean, surprisingly despite that it involves conflict and death; it manages to get a PG rating and not be completely terrifying. I mean, no it obviously isn't a family-type film but I would say that a kid up to at least 8 years olds could watch this.
If there is anything that The Seventh Seal sends to the audience, it questions us what the meaning of life is, the existence of God, what death is like and whether there is another life after death. Also, regarding the chess game that Death and the knight play, it shows in a dark way that life can be like a game and you have to win to survive so to speak. Obviously, Death bound in human form doesn't exist but in this one, Death isn't just taking lives because he must. He does it because he wants to. I mean, he takes lives of almost every person he sees all in different ways. Max Von Sydow was awesome as the knight Antonius Block but Bengt Ekerot did an ever better job as Death. Despite that Death is a very fictional character; Ekerot makes him quite a terrifying character.
Ingmar Bergman makes The Seventh Seal a bit like a surreal artistic film and he deserves a lot of credit for that. I mean, Bergman made 50+ films in his career and even he has revealed himself that The Seventh Seal is one of his personal favourite films despite its his own. The inspiration for the film was apparently from the period films of Akira Kurosawa. Bergman was a big fan at the time and now a legend is created from another legend.
I loved how the ending climax questioned the audience but it kind of shook them too because I think we all know what happened especially in the scene before and the opening of the film where the knight ends up on the beach and then meets Death is a classic scene and is very artistic despite being in black and white. I think the only problem that I had with this film was that the chess game between the knight and Death wasn't in the film as much as I was expecting hence why I haven't rated it 5-stars.
Overall, The Seventh Seal is a beautifully crafted artistic film that I loved. My first viewing of a Bergman film went off to a flying start and now I intend to watch more of his films! One of the most underrated films and thought-provoking films you'll see and it is perhaps the most famous Swedish film of all time. Bergman, you were a genius!!
9/10
