The Seventh Seal: There Go the Clowns
By June 15, 2009
In recent years, The Seventh Seal has often been honored more for its historical stature than its prevailing vitality. Those who attended its first international rollout and were Read more »
- Sweden
- 1957
- 96 minutes
- 1.33:1
- Swedish
- Spine #11
SYNOPSIS: Disillusioned and exhausted after a decade of battling in the Crusades, a knight (Max von Sydow) encounters Death on a desolate beach and challenges him to a fateful game of chess. Much studied, imitated, even parodied, but never outdone, Bergman’s stunning allegory of man’s search for meaning, The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet), was one of the benchmark foreign imports of America’s 1950s art-house heyday, pushing cinema’s boundaries and ushering in a new era of moviegoing.
Cast & CreditsOpen
Cast
| Antonius Block, the knight | Max von Sydow |
| Karin, the knight's wife | Inga Landgre |
| Jöns, the squire | Gunnar Björnstrand |
| Jof (Joseph) | Nils Poppe |
| Mia (Mary) | Bibi Andersson |
| Death | Bengt Ekerot |
| Plog, the smith | Ake Fridell |
| Lisa, Plog's wife | Inga Gill |
Credits
| Director | Ingmar Bergman |
| Cinematography | Gunnar Fischer |
| Screenplay | Ingmar Bergman |
| Music | Erik Nordgren |
| Editing | Lennart Wallén |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Introduction by Ingmar Bergman, recorded in 2003
- Audio commentary by Bergman expert Peter Cowie, with a new afterword
- Bergman Island (2006), an 83-minute documentary on Bergman by Marie Nyreröd, featuring in-depth and revealing interviews with the director
- Archival audio interview with Max von Sydow
- A 1989 tribute to Bergman by filmmaker Woody Allen
- Theatrical trailer
- Bergman 101, a selected video filmography tracing Bergman’s career, narrated by Cowie
- Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Gary Giddins
From the CurrentView the Current »
Film Essays
Bergman and I
By June 08, 2009
As I write this, it has been a year and a half since Ingmar Bergman passed away—and I miss him daily. I miss his imagination and the comfort he gave, both personally and through his films. I got to know Read more »
The Seventh Seal
By October 12, 1987
For more than forty years, The Seventh Seal has been a benchmark by which all other great foreign films are judged. It launched the international career of its director, Ingmar Bergman, and made a star of Read more »
News
Bergman Goes Hollywood
September 08, 2010
Soon, American Bergman-ophiles will be granted a special peek into the process of one of cinema’s great artists. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will host the Los Angeles world premiere Read more »
Ingmar Bergman’s Belongings Sold at Auction
September 29, 2009
In Stockholm, an auction of personal belongings from the estate of the great director Ingmar Bergman has just ended. The items ranged from parts of his daily life—his writing Read more »
Dispatches
Salute to Max von Sydow at Eighty
By April 09, 2009
The first time I “met” Max was in May of 1959, when Bergman’s stunning production of Urfaust came to London for just one week in the World Theatre Season. Groupie of all things Swedish Read more »
Clippings
CHECKMATE
July 13, 2009
Like Gary Giddins in his recent Criterion essay, Andrew O’Hehir, in an engaging and sharp new DVD review for Salon, sets out to refute the long-held misconception that Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal is a humorless Read more »
