- Directed by Ingmar Bergman
- Written by Ingmar Bergman
- Stars Max Von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Bengt Ekeros
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 36 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZucwtdSvJ8
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s a visually interesting piece that explores religion, philosophy, human relationships, the meaning of life, and death. Death is personified and while it’s not their first appearance on film, it’s an iconic version that has influenced other later movies and media. It’s pretty grim through much of it, and on the talky side, but it’s one worth checking out for sure if you haven’t seen it.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open on a deserted-looking beach, and we hear about the lamb opening the seventh seal, and the signs of the apocalypse. We cut to shots of dead men on the beach, from a shipwreck, including Antonius Block. He gets up and prays, not as dead as the others. Well, maybe not so good, since Death himself appears to him. “Are you ready?” Antonius challenges Death to a very high-stakes game of chess.
Antonius rides his horse away, with Squire Jons tagging along, talking about all kinds of ominous things. They try to ask a man for directions, but he’s obviously died from the plague.
Jof wakes up, gets out of his wagon and talks to his horse until he has a vision of a mother and child walking through the grass– he assumes it is the Virgin Mary. He goes inside and tells Mia about what he saw. She doesn’t believe him since he’s played pranks on her before. They are part of an acting troupe, and they’ve been hired to entertain the priests, who are all worried about the plague.
Squire Jons talks to a man painting a mural about the value of scary paintings. It’s a painting of the plague dead, meant to remind the living that they’re going to die. Jons tells that they’ve just come home from the Crusades.
Antonius arrives at the church and does a confession– the Death. He laments that he doesn’t care about his fellow man, and he has major doubts about his faith. He wants knowledge, not faith. Why won’t God show his face? Antonius wants to use his reprieve from Death to do one worthwhile act.
Antonius and Jons go outside and find a woman being flogged for having “carnal intercourse with the devil.” They think she’s the cause of the plague. Antonius and Jons ride out of town.
The two come upon a mostly abandoned town. Jons talks to Ravel, who brags about robbing the many dead in town. He’s the man who talked Antonius into going on the crusade ten years ago; it was a scam of some kind, and Jons threatens to kill Ravel if they see him again. Ravel’s woman becomes Jons’s housekeeper.
The acting troupe/circus has come to town. One of the actors follows a local woman into the bushes for a good time. The act is interrupted when a bunch of creepy monks and sick people march into town in a macabre parade. Everyone stops, prays, and cries. “You shall all die from the Black Death,” says the leader. He’s… not a fun man. After his morbid speech ends, the whole group moves on.
Everyone knows the plague is coming, and there’s a lot of angst as they wait in dread. The people are talking about Judgment Day and what that entails.
Plog the blacksmith is looking for his wife, who ran off with Jonas, the actor we saw earlier. He talks to, and threatens, Jof, because he’s an actor, too. They force him to dance and perform until Jons comes and rescues him.
Antonius sits in front of the chessboard and talks to Mia, who has a small baby, Mikael. He recognizes her from the circus show. Jof comes back, and he’s a mess from his ordeal. Antonius and Jof talk about safe places to hide from the plague. Antonius offers to guide them through the forest. Antonius talks about his wife, whom he hasn’t seen in a decade.
He likes being here with this calm, quiet family, and he’s cheerful when Death comes to play a turn of chess. Death vaguely hints that something bad might happen to Jof and his family. Plog, the blacksmith, begs to come with the group through the forest, hoping to find his missing wife.
Antonius, Jons, and a few others lead Jons’s family through the woods. They very soon catch up with Plog’s wife, Lisa, and Skat the actor. The two men call each other names until Lisa begs forgiveness. Lisa is obviously manipulating both men, and Jons cynically watches the whole thing.
Skat hides by climbing a tree, but then gets upset when Death arrives with a big saw to cut the tree down. “Your time has come. Your contract is terminated.” The tree falls and Skat dies.
Soldiers walk through, pushing a cart with the witch aboard, they’re heading to the execution grounds.
Antonius tells the witch that he’d like to meet the devil in order to ask him about God. She doesn’t have any good answers. The men burn the witch. Antonius and Jons argue over whether anyone, God, the angels, or Satan, is watching over the poor girl.
A man infected with the plague crawls into camp looking for help. Jons won’t let anyone go near the man or help him, as it’s pointless.
Later, Jof watches as Death returns for his game with Antonius. Mia thinks Antonius is alone, but Jof sees Death for what he is. “Nothing escapes me,” says Death. Antonius tries to spill the board, but Death restores the pieces and says Antonius is going to lose in the next movie. “When next we meet, you and your companions time will be up.” He still won’t say anything about the afterlife.
There’s a storm, and Jof and Mia have to park the wagon for the night. They know Death is on their heels. Meanwhile, Antonius and Jons enter a castle and look around. It’s Antonius’s home, and his wife is inside. They all sit down to dinner until Death shows up and they all recognize him… “It is finished,” says the mute girl.
We cut to Jof, Mia, and Mikael, all fine and healthy in the morning after the storm has passed. Jof sees the rest of the characters walking in a line as the Grim Reaper leads them in a long dancing line. Antonius, Jons, Skat, Plog, Lisa, and the mute girl are all dead now.
Brian’s Commentary
You know it’s old when Max Von Sydow gets fourth billing under people you’ve never heard of.
This wasn’t the first portrayal of Death as a character, but it was an extremely influential depiction.
It’s basically all the characters talking about how people deal with death, loss, and faith. It’s very philosophical, and all the characters have their own opinions. It’s an exceptionally bleak film, and they don’t get much more morbid and death-obsessed than this one. Visually, it’s excellent, the characters are all good, and there’s a lot of talking about religion and philosophy here.
Kevin’s Commentary
You never know when you’ll be climbing a tree and Death will come along with a saw to collect you. And the tree. This movie was much more interesting than I expected, full of engrossing and thought-provoking moments. Visually it’s great, the cast does a fine job, and the writer/director Ingmar Bergman clearly knew what he was doing.
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