or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
30 used & new from Ł5.00
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Seventh Seal [DVD] [1957]
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

The Seventh Seal [DVD] [1957]

DVD ~ Max von Sydow
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
RRP: Ł19.99
Price: Ł12.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: Ł7.01 (35%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 3 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Thursday, November 12? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
19 new from Ł7.98 9 used from Ł5.00 2 collectible from Ł14.00
Christmas Offers--Up to 70% Off DVD and Blu-ray
Christmas Offers--Up to 70% Off DVD and Blu-ray
Low-priced gift ideas, TV box sets, Blu-ray documentaries and recent drama, action and sci-fi hits. Go easy on your wallet this Christmas. Shop now
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

Frequently Bought Together

The Seventh Seal [DVD] [1957] + Wild Strawberries [1957] [DVD] + Persona [1966] [DVD]
Total RRP: Ł59.97
Price For All Three: Ł26.04

Show availability and shipping details

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Seventh Seal (50th Anniversary Special Edition) [1957] [DVD]
46% buy
The Seventh Seal (50th Anniversary Special Edition) [1957] [DVD] 3.8 out of 5 stars (8)
Ł7.08
The Seventh Seal [DVD] [1957]
37% buy the item featured on this page:
The Seventh Seal [DVD] [1957] 4.8 out of 5 stars (21)
Ł12.98
Wild Strawberries [1957] [DVD]
7% buy
Wild Strawberries [1957] [DVD] 4.7 out of 5 stars (13)
Ł6.08
Persona [1966] [DVD]
5% buy
Persona [1966] [DVD] 4.3 out of 5 stars (15)
Ł6.98
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Actors: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe, Bibi Andersson
  • Directors: Ingmar Bergman
  • Writers: Ingmar Bergman
  • Producers: Allan Ekelund
  • Format: Black & White, PAL
  • Language Latin, Swedish
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: All Regions
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: PG
  • Studio: Palisades Tartan
  • DVD Release Date: 24 Sep 2001
  • Run Time: 92 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005B5YF
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 29,274 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

Ingmar Bergman's 1956 film, The Seventh Seal has been parodied by everyone from Woody Allen to Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, but it remains one of the strangest and richest classics of world cinema. Max Von Sydow plays a knight returning from the Crusades to encounter an apocalyptic scenario inspired by the Book of Genesis. He plays chess with Death (Bengt Ekerot), sees a manacled witch, watches a band of flagellants go by--all of it foretelling an inevitable end to life. Unabashedly allegorical and lyrical and existing in a world unto itself, the film is enormously mesmerising no matter what one thinks of the weighty meanings Bergman has attached to it all.--Tom Keogh


Amazon.co.uk Review

Ingmar Bergman's best-known film and deservedly so, 1957's The Seventh Seal is an allegorical study of death, God and the meaning, if any, of human existence. It is a film that every human being should see, addressing as it does our deepest hopes, anxieties, curiosities and fears. Yet it's also a magical and captivating experience, close to the state of a lucid dream. Max Von Sydow plays Antonius Block, the knight who has returned, gaunt, weathered and disillusioned, from the crusades, to find his home country in the grip of the plague. He is met by Death, in the pallid, hooded form of Bengt Ekerot, whom he challenges to a game of chess. The longer he can stave off defeat, the longer he can prolong the existence of himself and his own entourage, whom Block acquires in the form of his cynical squire a young family and a band of travelling players.

Block's oft-expressed doubts and fears about his mortality and what lies beyond (hence the biblical Seventh Seal, which reveals this final secret to mankind) were especially relevant in the late 1950s, when the threat of the Bomb hung over mankind as did the threat of the plague many centuries before. The concluding Dance of Death image is, like the movie as a whole, harrowing, yet strangely enchanting.

On the DVD: Presented in the original academy ratio, this is an excellent restoration, emphasising the cinematic use of light to contrast the carefree young players with the austere shades used to convey Block's anxiety-ridden ruminations. Notes from Bergman's memoirs discuss how the "Dance of Death" image came from wood carvings in a country church he frequented as a child, as well as the influence of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana on the film. Critic Ronald Bergan's additional notes largely echo Bergman's own. --David Stubbs

See all Reviews

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Wild Strawberries [1957] [DVD]

Wild Strawberries [1957] [DVD]

DVD ~ Victor Sjöström
4.7 out of 5 stars (13)  Ł6.08
Persona [1966] [DVD]

Persona [1966] [DVD]

DVD ~ Bibi Andersson
4.3 out of 5 stars (15)  Ł6.98
Summer With Monika [1952] [DVD]

Summer With Monika [1952] [DVD]

DVD ~ Harriet Andersson
4.7 out of 5 stars (6)  Ł6.98
The Silence [DVD] [1963]

The Silence [DVD] [1963]

DVD ~ Ingrid Thulin
4.3 out of 5 stars (7)  Ł7.98
Smiles Of A Summer Night [1955] [DVD] [1995]

Smiles Of A Summer Night [1955] [DVD] [1995]

DVD ~ Ulla Jacobsson
4.8 out of 5 stars (9)  Ł6.98
› Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (17)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Bergman., 17 April 2006
By David Welsh (Oslo, Norway) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
One of the classic films of all time, The Seventh Seal is set in plague-ravaged Sweden in the Middle Ages and follows the knight Antonius Block who has returned from 10 years fighting in the Crusades. In the famous opening scene, Block encounters Death on the beach and challenges him to a game of chess in which he is playing for his life. Block's heartfelt search for meaning in the face of death and his struggle with the question of God's existence helped to show that cinema was a genuine art form that could be used to tackle deep existential and philosophical questions. This is a profound, challenging and beautifully executed film.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Movie, Terrible Features, 27 Feb 2003
From the very famous chess game between Antonius Block and Deathh on the beach to their skipping silhouettes on the hill the beauty and artistry of this masterpiece is maintained. Incoperating philosophy and the post-crucade life of Antonius Block as he battles (non-physically) with and runs from death the film embodies the greatness and individuality of Ingmar Bergman. The film, starring Max von Sydow (notorious Bergman collaborator; in films such as The Exorcist and Minority Report) recieves ten out of five stars from me.

However, due to the DVD I have to remove a star - not only are there hardly any features (apart from a photo gallery, text and some advertising) the presentation of the movie is highly injust - notably the poor state of the subtitles in comparison to Criterion Collection edition.

However, as this is the only version available in the UK at this current time I either recommend you buy this as an easy solution or track down a different edition (namely Criterion).

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Unsettling beauty, 15 May 2009
By Jonathan Carr "joncarr" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This unsettling movie is for me really about how people of different intelligence deal with life's big questions. The male and female couple with the baby, who work as entertainers, sail through life enjoying food and drink and sunshine. The troubled knight, returning from the crusades, is tormented by the meaninglessness of life and can't join in the fun.

Bergman uses the device of turning Death into a real character who warns the knight that his time is close. The Knight challenges Death to a game of chess to win more time, but Death is ever-present, cruel and deceptive. The film is open to interpretation and is not for everyone, but the sense it provides of how life leaves us all hanging - waiting endlessly for answers that never come - comes across perfectly. This is a powerful and brilliantly realised film which always seems to touch people on their first viewing.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Summoned to the Dance
After 10 years fighting in the crusades Antonius Block and his squire return to a Europe ravaged by plague. Read more
Published 12 months ago by sft

5.0 out of 5 stars Bleak, dark but with a ray of hope
BEWARE SPOILERS and needless interpretations.

It really is impossible to consider an Ingmar Bergman movie without immediately running to an interpretation. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Dennis Littrell

5.0 out of 5 stars 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... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Alojz Kajinic

5.0 out of 5 stars AN AWE INSPIRING UNDISPUTED MASTERPIECE
The mysteries of religion and death have long been a popular focus among artists of all media, including film. Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2007 by stuart

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking and beautifully shot film
This movie starts with a war-weary knight who is returning home to Sweden from the Crusades in the 14th Centaury. Read more
Published on 6 Oct 2007 by M. A. Ramos

4.0 out of 5 stars An atheistic lecture in drama form
With all the reputation this film has, I was just a tad dissapointed with what I saw. In filmic terms I saw some good things, but I didn't see much magic, as I was expecting. Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2007 by Lou Knee

4.0 out of 5 stars SEVEN UP
I have seen, and thoroughly enjoyed, a large amount of Bergman films in the past but, rather inexplicably, I never got round to viewing his most seminal movie: THE SEVENTH SEAL,... Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2007 by Mr. B. A. D. Plowman

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Seventh Seal" (1957)
Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal," a black-and-white drama following the life of a knight returning from the Crusades, can be seen as Bergman's quest to find God. Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2007 by Jake M. Cochrane

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the pinnacles in cinema history
Ingmar Bergstrom's definitive masterpiece is an elegaic, deep and thought-provoking film that challenges every possible perception on the meaning of life and, perhaps more... Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2007 by Mr. D. Woods

5.0 out of 5 stars a classic you may not know about.
Did not know quite what to expect with this film, but after watching it i must admit it is a real masterpiece, a true classic , and a remarkable film . Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2006 by D. A. Welsby

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject







i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.