Booklet, Trailer, Bergman 101, Woody Allen on Bergman, Max Von Sydow Interview, Afterword, Bergman Island, Commentary, Ingmar Bergman Intro

The Seventh Seal is directed by Ingmar Bergman and stars Max Von Sydow, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe, Bibi Anderson, and Gunnel Lindblom. Erik Nordgren composed the musical score. The film was originally released in 1957. ***

After fighting in the Crusades, a knight and his squire decide to camp out on a rocky beach for the night. But, things suddenly take a turn for the worst – the spirit of Death appears to claim the young soldier’s soul, stating that his time on this world is up. Disillusioned and having lost his faith, the soldier challenges Death to a game of Chess – if he wins, he’ll go free. If he loses, Death will have his soul. He enters into this game, hoping to learn more about the meaning of life. Along his travels, as he and the Reaper continue the game, he meets a troupe of traveling performers and begins to appreciate living again. But if Death wins the Chess game, he won’t be around to appreciate life much longer. ***

The Seventh Seal is filmmaking at its finest. Ingmar Bergman made no shortage of films in his days as a revered director, but none of them even come close to this one. The imagery of the Seventh Seal (often parodied in pop culture) is amongst the most memorable in the history of world cinema. Almost needless to say, it’s one of those films that stays with a viewer for the rest of their life after they have seen it. ***

Despite being critically-acclaimed and revered in this day and age, the movie did not always have the legendary reputation that now follows it. It’s not surprising that, in its day of release, it quickly came under attack for its pessimistic views of religion, God, and death. But that’s not to say it isn’t a legendary piece of filmmaking. And the thought-provoking nature of the film only enhances it and keeps it relevant over half a century later. ***

A solid cast and imagery guarantee the film’s place in cinematic history. Max Von Sydow is incredible as the soldier who questions the nature of life, but begins to grow and regain his humanity as he meets the traveling actors. Of course, the true stand-out would be Bengt Ekerot as Death himself. For numerous films since from all around the world, Ekerot’s portrayal has inspired countless other interpretations of the Grim Reaper. This was the definitive representation of Death personified on the big screen. Also terrific in supporting roles are the members of the traveling actors troupe. If you’ve mostly just been exposed to English-language movies your whole life, these names likely won’t be familiar to you, aside from Sydow, who appeared as the villain Blofeld in the unofficial James Bond movie Never Say Never Again. But everyone in this movie gives the best performance they ca n. It’s because of these performances and these memorable images (who could forget the scene where Death first appears on the beach?) that make the Seventh Seal an unforgettable classic. ---

Image And Sound:

It’s official – Casablanca now has some serious competition for the coveted title of “best-looking black-and-white movie on Blu-Ray.” Hell, this disc might even be the new champion. Criterion has done an absolutely incredible job cleaning up dirt, damage and debris from the source. There are virtually no negative anomalies whatsoever in the picture worth mentioning. The film grain is intact but never distracting or spiking. You can tell the company did a painstaking job in delivering a faithful back-catalogue remaster, and that they didn’t take any shortcuts (noise reduction, artificial sharpening, etc.) in delivering the goods. An uncompressed mono track beautifully preserves the audio as it was meant to be heard. Every aspect of the movie, be it sound effects, voices, or Erik Nordgren’s classic score comes across crystal-clear and without any flaw. It’s great to see Criterion has given us another top-tier remaster of a classic film for the High Definition market. ***

As a side note, even though the movie was shot around the time most directors/major studios/etc. were transitioning towards widescreen filming, Bergman still opted to shoot this film in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1. That means that if you are viewing this Blu-Ray on a widescreen television, the picture will be pillarboxed. Do not adjust your set – this is the way it was meant to be viewed.

Once again, Criterion not only delivers a top-notch remastering job, they also pull out all the stops as far as special features are concerned. A ton of special features are included on the disc, including featurettes looking at both th e making of the film and at Bergman’s filmmaking in general. The original theatrical trailer is included, as is an audio interview with Max Von Sydow, and even a featurette with Woody Allen discussing Bergman! We also get a Bergman introduction to the film. And as with all Criterion releases, an informative booklet has been included with this package, packed with essays and info on the movie.

Final Words: