The Seventh Seal - Criterion Collection | Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot

The Seventh Seal - Criterion Collection | Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot | Death: The Ultimate Mystery

DVDs:

The Seventh Seal -...

	The Seventh Seal - Criterion Collection Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot Criterion, 1999 average customer review:based on 179 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Love is the blackest of all plagues

Like a gloomy night swallowing the day, The Seventh Seal slowly engulfs you with its tragic implications and visions. Set upon a dark historical framework, it embarks on a haunting and unforgettable journey filled with philisophical and humanistic components.
Right from the start, you have the enigmatic knight being confronted by Death. In an effort to avoid his fatal grasp, he challenges Death to a game of chess. I think this was just a clever attempt by the knight to buy some time, delay the inevitable.
The story proceeds in a dismal fashion, although their are several humorous moments. The people of the region are constantly faced with the threats of plague, fear of witches, and questions of religous faith.
This is a remarkable piece of work. Completely mesmerizing. It's a complex and bewildering look into the boundaries of love, faith, and ultimately death. Any serious film collector needs to add this masterpiece to the collection.

for more information click here

Death: The Ultimate Mystery

Director and storyteller Igmar Bergman deals with the final and ultimate mystery, death. Are we faced with extinction or a heavenly reward? Perhaps a deal can be arranged with the Grand Reaper? Human beings often delude themselves that they can forevermore delay the inevitable. A world-weary knight in the 14th Century (Max von Sydow) persuades Death to engage in a chess match with him. Death risks nothing while he risks everything. This is obviously an unfair situation---but whoever said life was fair? How long can the knight keep the game going? Will he make it to old age? This dark comedy is highly entertaining. Needless to add, death is the clear winner at the end. This is one time, though, I can inform you of the ending and not ruin the experience. We all know it before the film ever starts.

for more information click here

Unsettling, humbling, and thought provoking

This unsettling, humbling, and thought-provoking film has made an enormous impression on me.

Bergman reminds us that even our greatest achievements in life will not cheat Death, that superstition can create unspeakable evils, and that the enormous power wielded by the Church was sometimes tragically bad. The film raises important questions regarding God and his existence, the meaning of life, and the emptiness that possibly awaits us after death.

The knight (Max von Sydow) and his squire (Gunnar Björnstrand) offer us two possible approaches to life: idealism versus hedonism. Which approach we should adopt in our own lives is left to us to decide.

for more information click here

A MESSAGE ABOUT THE SEVENTH SEAL FROM SYLVIA PLATH

". . . to Scotia to see Ingmar Bergman's The Magician. Not as gripping and terrifying as the Seventh Seal, but fine, magnificently entertaining. Photography, haunting scenes and characters [sic.] faces strong -- recognized the cast of the other film. Why can't America, even England, produce something like the good Swedish and Italian and Japanese films? The corruption of the capitalist civilization? The lack of any knowledge of deep humanity?" -- Sylvia Plath, journal entry, November 1, 1959.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

products you might be interested in