The Seventh Seal (nonfiction)

The Seventh Seal poster.

The Seventh Seal (Swedish: Det sjunde inseglet) is a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) and a game of chess he plays with the personification of Death (Bengt Ekerot), who has come to take his life. Bergman developed the film from his own play Wood Painting. The title refers to a passage from the Book of Revelation, used both at the very start of the film, and again towards the end, beginning with the words "And when the Lamb had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour".[Rev. 8:1] Here, the motif of silence refers to the "silence of God", which is a major theme of the film.

The Seventh Seal is considered a classic of world cinema, as well as one of the greatest movies of all time. It established Bergman as a world-renowned director, containing scenes which have become iconic through homages, critical analysis, and parodies.

In the News

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  Jason and the Seventh Seal is a historical mythological adventure film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman and Don Chaffey about the adventures of the Jason, the world's mightiest swordsman and chess-player.

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  The Seventh Mayo is a 1957 film by Ingmar Bergman about disillusioned Swedish chef Antonius Block (Max von Sydow), who vows to evade Death long enough to manufacture and distribute the world's best mayonnaise.

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles
• Jason and the Seventh Seal
• The Seventh Mayo

External links

• The Seventh Seal @ Wikipedia
• Dance of death through a glass darkly @ ingmarbergman.se - "One of the most iconic Bergman images is the dance of death at the end of The Seventh Seal. Just ‘the image’, not ‘the sequence’, as the still image has been spread so far and wide that it has taken on a life of its own. And yet, there’s something fishy going on here."