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Poster for The Seventh Seal
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Released
1957 · FILM

The Seventh Seal

A disillusioned crusader knights his fate by challenging Death itself to a relentless game of chess, betting that each move will buy him enough time to find redemption before the plague‑ravaged world claims them both.

“The story of a challenge to death.”

Directed by
Ingmar Bergman
Written by
Ingmar Bergman
Rated
MPA · NR
Color
Black & White
Runtime
96 min
Language
SV
DramaFantasy
Streaming on
  • The Criterion Channel

Synopsis

After returning from the Crusades to find Sweden ravaged by the Black Death, disillusioned knight Antonius Block challenges Death to a game of chess for his life. Haunted by the belief that God no longer exists, Block embarks on a journey, joining traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia. He resolves to avoid Death long enough to perform one meaningful act before his time runs out.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Writers
Director

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

A crew of 51+ credited

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Lennart WallenShot by Gunnar FischerScored by Erik NordgrenDesigned by P A Lundgren

Box Office

1957 · Box office

⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 2.1× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$311K

Budget$150K
Worldwide gross$311K
break-even (2.5×)

Full synopsis

Also known as

  • Das siebente Siegelde
  • Das Siebte Siegelde
  • The Seventh Sealen
  • El séptimo selloes
  • Le Septième Sceaufr
  • Il settimo sigilloit

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