Ingmar Bergman's THE SEVENTH SEAL: special screening in Swedenborg Hall

To mark the beginning of the Swedenborg FIlm Season 2012, we are pleased to present THE SEVENTH SEAL at Swedenborg Hall, 'one of London's most atmospheric venues' (The Guardian). Admission is free but capacity is limited.

THE SEVENTH SEAL (Det Sjunde Inseglet, 1957) (96 mins)

The Seventh Seal is Bergman’s most famous film, and a seminal event in the history of 20th century cinema. Max von Sydow stars as a 14th century knight named Antonius Block, heading home to Sweden after fighting in the Crusades.

Disillusioned by the misery he has experienced Block concludes that God does not exist, but as he nears home he is visited by Death (Bengt Ekerot), dressed in the traditional black robe. Unwilling to give up the ghost, Block challenges Death to a game of chess. If he wins, he lives— if not, he'll allow Death to claim him.

The Seventh Seal ends with one of the most indelible of all of Bergman's cinematic images: the near-silhouette ‘Dance of Death’. Filmed in Black and white The Seventh Seal has since won multitude of awards, including the Special Jury Prize at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival.

Doors open at 6.30 for a 7 pm start. Admission is free but capacity is limited. Advance booking is highly recommended via [email protected].

ABOUT THE SWEDENBORG FILM SEASON

Weekly screenings of films by Ingmar Bergman in grade-II-listed Swedenborg Hall, 'one of London's most atmospheric venues' (The Guardian). Admission is free but capacity is limited.

Following the success of last year’s season of Robert Bresson films, we are pleased to announce the forthcoming screening of three great films by the Swedish director Ingmar Berman.

Well known for his interest in Swedenborg, Bergman wrote and directed over fifty feature films, and from the late 1950s his work has since become canonical to ‘art-house’ movie culture, academic cinema studies and film clubs all over the world. In addition to filmmaking he has also directed and produced numerous plays, including a famous interpretation of August Strindberg’s Inferno, itself heavily influenced by the work of Swedenborg. The films selected for screening at Swedenborg house all feature images and symbols redolent of ideas found in Swedenborg, as well as being reflective of the great early period of Bergman’s cinematic career.

The Swedenborg film season is now an annual event organized/curated by Stephen McNeilly and Nora Foster, with Howard Turner serving as in-house projectionist.