The Seventh Seal

The Seventh Seal [Det sjunde inseglet] (Criterion #11).
1957 AB Svensk Filmindustri & Janus Films.
Starring: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Nils Poppe, Bibi Andersson, Bengt Ekerot
Director: Ingmar Bergman
The original Criterion single DVD is currently out of print, but copies can still be found in the Ingmar Bergman: Four Masterworks box set. The two-disc reissue of The Seventh Seal hits stores on June 16th.

Bergman's cinematic masterpiece, and another of the all time great classic films. You may have seen at least one homage to, or parody of this film in your lifetime, particularly the personification of Death, played here by Bengt Ekerot.

Max von Sydow is Antonius Block, a knight returning from ten years of fighting in the Crusades, along with his squire Jöns (Björnstrand), finds that his homeland of Sweden is being ravaged by the plague. Block, having experienced a lot of war and misery, has concluded that God doesn't exist, and all he really wants is to be reunited with his wife Karin (Inga Landgré). Instead, Death appears before him, and apparently, it's Block's time. To buy time so he can reunite with Karin, Block asks Death to play a game of chess. Death agrees to his terms: as long as Block resists, he lives, and if he wins, he shall go free.

The game lasts throughout most of the movie, with respites here and there, as Block and Jöns continue on their journey. Block goes into a church to confess that his faith is wavering, but only finds that the priest is really Death in disguise. Jöns saves a mute girl from being raped by a robber, and she agrees to become his housekeeper. Block also meets a family of traveling actors, who he invites to stay in his castle where they'll be safe from the plague. Block's continuing confusion about his faith and life intensifies when they happen upon a witch about to be burned at the stake, when she claims to summon Satan, but no one else can see him. Jöns simply claims that the witch did not see God or Satan, because neither exists.

Block ultimately loses the game, but manages to save his actor friends. Death grants him one last reprieve, where Block is reunited with his wife at his castle, and they have one last supper before Death comes for them. Block desperately pleads to God as the end nears. The next morning, the actors awaken, and the father sees a vision of Block and his followers in a dance of death on the hills. Block may not have saved himself, but he did save a family, which means he left behind a life not without meaning.

Highly, highly, highly recommended.