MovieChat Forums > Det sjunde inseglet (1958) Discussion > Chess game with Death

Chess game with Death

posted 12 years ago by treach33
3 replies | jump to latest

Would you actually be able to play an honest game of Chess with death?

Wouldn't he know what you're thinking? And therefore, know all your moves ahead of time?

I just don't see how one could have an honest game with him.

But if that's true, then why did he cheat by asking the Knight in disguise what his strategy was in winning the game? Is he not capable of reading his mind? Why must he resort to cheating?

I also noticed he put back the pieces in the wrong order after the knight had nocked them over. Obviously the message in the film is very clear, "one can't cheat death" and I understand that but the questions still remain.

On a side note, Does anyone recognize the chess set that was used for those scenes?

~What if this is as good as it gets?!~

[–] pelopen3bc 12 years ago

Would you actually be able to play an honest game of Chess with death?

Interesting question. I have no personal experience in the matter, so I can't say with any certainty.

Wouldn't he know what you're thinking? And therefore, know all your moves ahead of time?

Is he not capable of reading his mind? Why must he resort to cheating?

I don't think the film implied he was capable of reading the knight's (Antonius Block) mind. Unlike perhaps God, Death doesn't seem to be an all-powerful deity. There are several times where, if Death were able to read minds, the situation would be very different. He does have his ability to read people, as someone/something that has a lot of experience with the human condition.

I'm not sure he has to resort to cheating, since he does seem fairly confident in his chess capabilities, but he chooses to just the same. Like a lot of Medieval lore, he was a trickster, and took full use of an opportunity to deceive the knight. Death being who he is, he probably doesn't feel an obligation to fight fair.

Of course, they both know there is more at stake than simply a test of chess skill. Antonius Block is at first playing to simply delay Death, to keep him locked in a game that will delay him from performing his duty. Antonius Block himself intentionally knocks over the pieces, a foul move perhaps. At first it seems like an attempt to cheat but in reality he is distracting Death from something else altogether (the family).

On a side note, Does anyone recognize the chess set that was used for those scenes?

Unfortunately I do not.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Bree_33 12 years ago

Read this:

How great is that game with Death really?
http://www.empireonline.com/features/seventh-seal-chess-match-analysis

Bergman has stated that the image of a man playing chess with a skeletal Death was inspired by a medieval church painting from the 1480s in Täby kyrka, Täby, north of Stockholm, painted by Albertus Pictor:
http://bit.ly/Z4NkuL

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