For anyone younger than 40 or so, I can simply say you don't know how lucky you are that VHS and later DVD and BD have made these enduring classics so accessible. Despite the ease with which anyone can watch classics nowadays, I'm repeatedly surprised at how many people shy away from Bergman, thinking he's too intellectual or too stylized, or, frankly, too dour to ever enjoy. To anyone who's seen the sparkling comedy of Smiles of a Summer Night or even parts of, say, The Magician (and even The Seventh Seal itself), you know how off the mark that can be. Like any true master, Bergman is able to seamlessly blend absolutely riveting drama with moments of low comedy, mixed in with a rare literary quality that makes his movies something like the film equivalent to a grand and involving novel.

Nowhere are these facets more deliberately and evocatively on display than in the masterpiece that first brought Bergman to international attention in the late 1950s, The Seventh Seal. Is there anyone with even a minimal knowledge of film who hasn't at least seen a still of the chess match between Death and the Knight that is one of the visual highlights of Bergman's rumination on mortality? The Seventh Seal's premise couldn't be simpler--a Knight (Max von Sydow) and his squire (Gunnar Bjornstrand) return from the Crusades to find their land ravaged by the Plague. The Knight is soon visited by Death (Bengt Ekerot), whereupon he enters into a desperate gambit--he will play Death in a game of chess, and whoever wins gets to call the shots, as it were. If Death is the victor, the conclusion is obvious. Conversely, if the Knight wins, he gets off Scot-free (at least for a while, anyway).

Playing out against this literal life-or-death match is a charming subplot involving three touring performers, including Jof (Nils Poppe) and Mia (Bibi Andersson)--names that are diminutives of Joseph and Mary, in case you miss their significance. While Block, the Knight, and Jons, his squire, are the epitome of worn and world weary characters who have seen too much and have the grim wisdom that comes from a long struggle, Jof and Mia are virtual innocents, each a tabula rasa on which the growing horror of the Black Death has yet to write even one whit. Bergman brilliantly balances these two extremes against each other, slowly having both meet in the middle by the film's climax.

The Seventh Seal is obviously Bergman's manifesto on what it means to be mortal, to confront one's mortality and to defy if not deny that mortality to the end. Block, an obvious stand-in for Bergman himself, questions Death about the existence of God and the afterlife. Is Death ignorant, or simply taciturn? Or is this Bergman's very subtly disconcerting thesis that Death doesn't know and doesn't care about any of that--it's not his business, as it were. The Seventh Seal is full of these unresolved issues, but that is part of its enduring and alluring power--it is a film thoroughly grounded in the fundamentals of the questioning human soul. Only zealots seem to have real "answers" (as Bergman actually shows in the film). The rest of us may drown in our own uncertainty, but I think it's Bergman's tenet that this in and of itself is what makes many of us a certain kind of hero despite our flaws.

The Seventh Seal is a marvel of mid- to late-50s filmmaking. Has any other full frame black and white production provided so many iconic images and brilliant sound design choices? Notice for example how, after an opening filled with raucous ocean sounds, we are greeted with absolute silence when Death first appears, an obvious tip o' the cowl to scripture about the seventh seal in the Book of Revelation (incorrectly called Revelations by commentator Peter Cowie in his otherwise fascinating commentary). And Gunnar Fischer's cinematography is so lusciously perfect, if unremittingly grim, that it repeatedly takes the breath away. Depth of field and framing are simply unmatched. Von Sydow and the entire company are almost mythically powerful throughout this enterprise, and it's little wonder that their performances have entered the hallowed halls of all time greatest acting (in fact, some would argue all of these performers had their career high water marks with The Seventh Seal, something rather amazing at least in Von Sydow's case, with his remarkable variety of roles through the years). Erik Nordgren's spare yet evocative underscore, which Cowlie rightly notes draws on Orff's Carmina Burana for inspiration, also helps lend the film its dramatic impact.

If you've never taken the Bergman plunge, for whatever reason, I can pretty much guarantee you will be surprised by how viscerally involving The Seventh Seal is. For you Bergman fans, you already know how moving and forceful the film is. It has an immediacy and drama that more impressionistic films like Persona, Through a Glass Darkly and even Wild Strawberries lack. It's surprisingly swift (only about an hour and a half), with a bold premise that is performed brilliantly by the expert cast. Bergman may indeed have been a philosopher-king of sorts, but he was also a very astute filmmaker, and his films are always beautifully crafted, both technically and from a story aspect as well. There's certainly no finer example of that than The Seventh Seal, and this Blu-ray presentation does it proud.

The Blu-ray

Video:
The Seventh Seal arrives in a virtually flawless AVC 1.37:1 transfer that is almost tactile in its depth of field and unbelievably solid contrast. This is one of the greatest black and white films ever from a cinematography standpoint, and I'm happy to say the Criterion's hi-def transfer retains all of the natural film grain, while losing none of the exceptional range of blacks and whites the film offers. The only thing keeping this from a 5.0 rating is some very slight damage (which I assume is in the source elements), usually at the very top of the image, which is most noticeable in the opening seascape scenes.

Sound:
The original Swedish soundtrack is offered here in an uncompressed LPCM track that is exceptionally clear and precise. Dialogue is easy to hear, and the ambient sound mix is exceptional. English subtitles (in white, unfortunately, which makes them a bit hard to decipher at times) are offered.

Extras:
A host of excellent supplements, some ported over from previous releases, are offered. Despite making the name of the final book of the New Testament a plural, Peter Cowie's commentary (previously released) is insightful and informative. There's a nice addendum, Afterword, made in 2008 with Cowie giving additional commentary. A short introduction by Bergman shows the director to be an unassuming and thoughtful (and funny--yes, funny) man. Bergman scholar and interviwer Marie Nyrerod contributes Bergman Island, a really interesting 83 minute in depth piece on the director. Cowie returns for an audio interview with Von Sydow, as well as Bergman 101 a concise overview of the director's works. A featurette from TCM offering Woody Allen waxing philosophical on his favorite director, the theatrical trailer, and an informative insert booklet with an essay by Gary Giddins round out the extras.

Final Thoughts:
The Seventh Seal is rightly hailed as one of the greatest classics in international film. Thoughtful, provocative and disturbing in equal measure, it cuts to the quick of what it means to be alive and know that death is imminent. Full of some of the most ravishing images ever captured on celluloid, and anchored by career making performances by Von Sydow, Bjornstrand, Andersson and the entire cast, The Seventh Seal demands to be seen by anyone who cares about great filmmaking. Criterion is doing a mostly splendid job with their new line of BDs, and The Seventh Seal certainly stands as a prime example of what the format can offer to classic film buffs. Easily a DVD Talk Collector Series title.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet