LSC Event Descriptions

March 11, 2005

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unrated
92 minutes

LSC Classics Presents:
Det Sjunde Inseglet (The Seventh Seal) (1957)
March 11, 2005 at 7:30 and 10:30pm in 10-250.

Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow), a knight, returns from a 10-year crusade with his squire, Jons (Gunnar Bjornstrand), to find his homeland ravaged by the plague. When the black-cloaked figure of Death (Bengt Ekerot) appears to claim them, Block, whose war experiences have left him cynical about the existence of God and the afterlife, challenges Death to a game of chess to stall for time and gain some insight into the meaning of life before passing on. The game is intermittently paused and resumed during the journey home while Block and Jons meet several traveling companions, including a mute girl (Gunnel Lindblom) whom they save from a bandit, and a family of poor traveling players--Jof, a gentle visionary (Nils Poppe); his wife, Mia (Bibi Andersson); and their infant daughter. Block witnesses much suffering and anguish along the way (an encounter with a woman accused of witchcraft who is about to be burned at the stake is especially jarring) but also finds evidence of human kindness and love, prompting him to realize that even a single gesture of goodwill might make the long struggle of his existence worthwhile. [rottentomatoes.com]

"...so densely packed with both visual and verbal images that it is a cinematic equivalent of poetry"
      -- Arthur Lazere, CultureVulture. Read this review.


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