Det sjunde inseglet (1957)

Voti degli utenti:

8.4/10   

Regista:

Ingmar Bergman

Scrittori:

Ingmar Bergman (play)
Ingmar Bergman (screenplay)

Data di uscita:

13 ottobre 1958 (USA)

Genere:

Avventura | Drammatico | Fantasy

Plot:

A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Knight | Plague | Chess | Squire

Premi:

7 wins & 1 nomination

Recensioni degli utenti:

Grim, but not entirely hopeless

Cast

Gunnar Björnstrand	...	Jöns, squire
Bengt Ekerot	...	Death
Nils Poppe	...	Jof / Joseph
Max von Sydow	...	Antonius Block
Bibi Andersson	...	Mia / Mary - Jof's wife
Inga Gill	...	Lisa, blacksmith's wife
Maud Hansson	...	Witch
Inga Landgré	...	Karin, Block's Wife
Gunnel Lindblom	...	Girl
Bertil Anderberg	...	Raval
Anders Ek	...	The Monk
Åke Fridell	...	Blacksmith Plog
Gunnar Olsson	...	Albertus Pictor, Church Painter
Erik Strandmark	...	Jonas Skat

Alias:

The Seventh Seal (UK) (USA)
Il settimo sigillo (Italy) [it]

Durata:

96 min

Nazionalità:

Sweden

Lingua:

Svedese | Latin

Colore:

Bianco e nero

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sonoro:

Mono

Divieti:

Australia:PG | South Korea:15 | Italy:T (re-rated) | Italy:VM14 (original rating) | South Africa:PG | USA:TV-PG (cable rating) | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:16 | Spain:13 | UK:X (original rating) | Iceland:12 | Singapore:PG

Luoghi riprese:

Gustavsberg, Värmdö, Stockholms län, Sweden

Compagnia:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Curiosità:

The procession of flagellants chant the Dies Irae, a famous thirteenth century Latin hymn thought to be written by Thomas of Celano. Before stopping in the village they chant stanzas 1-4 and the Lacrimosa, stanza 18. These are repeated as the procession departs.

Errori:

Errori di fatto: The story begins with a knight and his squire returning to Sweden after spending ten years away in the Crusades. His country is being ravaged by the Black Death. The last Crusade to the Mid-East ended in 1291 (late-13th century) with the fall of Acre, but the Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, first struck Europe about 60 years later in the mid- to late-14th century (1347-1351) reaching Germany and Scandinavia from 1348 to 1350. There were other crusades, such as those between factions in Europe, but they came either earlier or later; none of them fell within the ten-year period just before the plague.

Citazioni:

Blacksmith Plog: Jons, between you and me, isn't life a dirty mess?
J?ns: Yes, but don't think of that now.
Blacksmith Plog: It's what you make it.

Collegamenti:

Parodiato in The Independent (2000)

Colonna sonora:

HÅLLAS MELLAN RONA

Grim, but not entirely hopeless

Middle Ages: Antonius Blok, a Swedish knight, returns from the Crusades only to find his country dying of the plague, religious fundamentalists taking over and Death himself wanting him to come along. Antonius challenges Death to a game of chess and is meanwhile driven to desperation because of the absence of God. This description sounds like a very serious, philosophical and dour film, and actually it is serious, philosophical and dour; but there is also a little warmth, hope and humor, maybe not for Antonius, but for the viewer.

When Blok and Death interrupt their game of chess (due to the plague, Death is very busy), he meets two actors, Jof and Mia, with their little son, the most human characters of the film, and I don't think it's a coincidence that there names sound very much like Joseph and Mary. These people may be a little dim, but they are good at heart and you can see the happiness in Antonius' eyes when he is together with them for the first time.

But the main aspect of Ingmar Bergman's arguably best film are Antonius Blok's grim encounters, as the young girl about to be burnt at the stake, as a scapegoat for the plague. And the haunting image of a huge crowd of flagellants interrupting a play of Jof and Mia and trying to convince the crowd thery are doomed; hardly any other film is that direct in asking controversial and essential questions about God, religion and mankind as The Seventh Seal.

Another reason for the impact this almost 50-year-old film has still today is the acting: Max von Sydow's face always seems to reflect what Antonius Blok is thinking, Nils Poppe's performance as the naive actor and caring father is priceless and Bengt Ekerot's Death became a part of film history and survived all its spoofs (the best one being in Woody Allen's tremendously funny "Love and Death"). But the best performance is done by Gunnar Björnstrand as Antonios Blok's misogynist squire, dryly commenting all their encounters even in the face of death.

The Seventh Seal is not subtle in raising it's questions, that's for sure. But it makes you think about these questions nevertheless. It's disturbing and grim most of the time, but at the end it gives you the hope that it might become better.