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Ingmar Bergman

Don’t fear the Reaper, challenge him to a game of chess

A A A Comments By Dusti Rhodes Thursday, Aug 16 2007

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After years of fighting in the Crusades, the knight in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal returns to his plague-ridden country to find death has been waiting on him. To kill time before his demise, the knight challenges the reaper to a game of chess. The game takes the knight on a series of dreamlike journeys in which he’s reunited with his wife and other characters. Scenes such as a witch burning, complete with clergymen caught up in the hate, prompt the knight to question his belief in God and religion. Although Bergman had been making movies for ten years before directing The Seventh Seal in 1957, this one is the reason the recently deceased movie master became a household name. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is showing the film, along with Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, to honor his contribution to cinema.
Sat., Aug. 18, 7 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 19, 7 p.m.

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