10 Movies Every Film Buff Should Have Seen Already

9. The Seventh Seal (1957)

When pioneers like Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen and Francis Ford Coppola all claim that Ingmar Bergman is their favorite director, film buffs should sit up and take notice. The Swedish auteur is one of the most influential films makers of all time and generations of directors owe a huge debt to his work. Choosing only one movie to watch from his impressive back catalog is a difficult task, but The Seventh Seal is the film that established Bergman as a force to be reckoned with in the realm of world cinema and is now considered to be one of the best movies ever made. Just the number of parodies and homages that The Seventh Seal has inspired alone ensures that it will be forever remembered for generations to come. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, The Seventh Seal follows the journey of a medieval knight called Antonius Block who encounters Death on his travels. To forestall his own demise, Block challenges the black-cowled figure to a round of chess and as the game progresses, the two discuss the nature of death itself. After growing up in a strict religious household, Bergman rebelled against his family's views yet continued to explore universal questions about God and the meaning of life throughout his life's work. The symbolism and literary references hidden within movies like The Seventh Seal may make them inaccessible to casual viewers, but for those willing to put the effort into understanding their deeper meaning, Bergman's filmography is among the most rewarding ever created in the history of cinema. If you haven't seen The Seventh Seal yet, prepare for zero laughs. Further Recommendations: Persona (1966), The Fountain (2006), The Tree Of Life (2011)