The Seventh Seal

Arguably the most famous of Ingmar Bergman's films and certainly his most iconic, "The Seventh Seal" is Bergman at his most allegorical. A disillusioned knight (Max von Sydow) returns from the Crusades with his skeptical squire (Gunnar Björnstrand), desperate to find meaning as he faces Death, quite literally, in a game of chess. In the face of such heavy themes and harsh landscapes, it's easy to forget how cinematographer Gunnar Fischer brings the world alive with his painterly photography and overlook the warmth and hope shining through the doom. The sun comes out for a traveling juggler with a wife and child, and the knight finds something worth dying for in this loving family. The beauty and the intensity of the film has been lost to the reputation over the years. Watching it again brings it back to life.

Criterion revisits the Bergman masterpiece, one of the company's very first DVD releases, with a new special-edition release (remastered from a 2006 restoration) on DVD and Blu-ray. On Blu-ray it looks stunning; I've never seen the film look this sharp and rich. Both editions feature the previously available commentary by Bergman scholar Peter Cowie, plus all new features, including Marie Nyreröd's feature-length 2006 documentary "Bergman Island," built around candid interviews with the director conducted four years before he died. (This documentary is also available separately.) Also features "Bergman 101," a 35-minute video essay on Bergman's life and career by Cowie, illustrated by stills and film clips; a newly recorded afterward by Cowie; a seven-minute appreciation by Woody Allen recorded in 1998 for Turner Classic Movies (he calls the film "a brilliant and sinister fairy tale"); and a booklet.