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The Seventh Seal

Sweden, 14th century: a crusader returns to a land ravaged by plague. With Death, he begins a game of chess. The stakes: his life.

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Deze voorstelling maakt deel uit van Rialto Filmclub met als gastspreker deze maand Ernst-Jan Pfauth.

The Seventh Seal

14th century: Disillusioned knight Antonius Block and his cynical squire Jöns return from the Crusades to find their country Sweden ravaged by the plague. On a deserted beach, Block meets Death. The knight challenges Death to a chess match, believing that he can survive as long as the game continues. Death accepts the challenge. While the game is played, Block and Jöns travel to Block's castle. Along the way, they run into a troupe of itinerant actors, a young woman condemned to be burned at the stake, an artist painting a fresco of the Danse Macabre in a church, and – of course – Death: "No one escapes me."

In this dark, but beautifully framed tale, Bergman raises essential, meaningful philosophical issues about the nature of life and death, good and evil. With Max von Sydow as Antonius Block.