Ingmar Bergman's existential masterpiece The Seventh Seal follows medieval knight Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) as he plays chess with Death (Bengt Ekerot) in an attempt to hold off his own demise. However, Death ends up winning the game, and at the end of movie, Block and everyone he has been travelling with is united in a dance of death. The beautiful silhouetted image makes its context clear from the black gown and scythe at the front of the pack, forming the popular symbols for Death, while those behind him are helplessly in his thrall, marching towards their end. Even ignoring its potent stature in the film itself, this image has an undeniably haunting quality, that whether we like to think about it or not, we're all taking that same walk towards death, though the length of our journeys are of course completely different. Through Bergman's accomplished career examining life and death, no image has remained as brilliantly indelible and thought-provoking as this.
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