Famed director Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal”, (1957) with the amazing Max von Sydow and the rest of his stable of actors (Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe, and Bibi Andersson) gained a cult following when first seen in the U.S. I was introduced, in the late 60’s, to this beautiful black and white film about a chess playing chalk faced man in a black cloak and loved it. It still shows up on those “Greatest Films of all times” lists after all these years and I still think it’s terrific. 
In short, the story is about a 14th century Swedish knight that returns from the crusades. After being followed home thru the devastation of a war torn and plague infested countryside, he plays a game of chess with “death” to save his life. Lots of stark landscapes, lots of symbolism and abstraction – great stuff! “The Seventh Seal” isn’t shown much now, so I am grateful for the DVD.
Ingmar Bergman, (1918-2007) – Hugely prolific, below are only some of his films that are available on DVD:
1950s: Smiles of a Summer Night, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries
1960s: The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Persona
1970s: Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage , Autumn Sonata
1980s: Fanny and Alexander
