The Seventh Seal

A knight returning from the Crusades finds his country ravaged by the plague and Death waiting for him on the seashore. To postpone the inevitable, he challenges Death to a game of chess and sets off with his squire on a journey through a world ruled by fear, faith and superstition. Along the way, they encounter a troupe of travelling performers and others searching for meaning in a world that seems to be approaching its end. Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece, a cornerstone of modern cinema, transforms a crisis of faith and the fear of death into a universal cinematic parable. From the chess match with Death to the famous dance on the horizon, Bergman combines existential inquiry with humour, compassion and striking visual beauty in a film that has lost none of its power.