MovieChat Forums > Nattvardsgästerna (1963) Discussion > Death with a chess board.

Death with a chess board.

posted 14 years ago by ram-30
4 replies | jump to latest

I thought it was a nice touch for Bergman to have a small painting of Death carrying a chess board painted on the inside of the church wall. I take this as a reference to Bergman's classic film THE SEVENTH SEAL.

The two films of course share many similarities, foremost being a man who has devoted himself to the gospel of Jesus feeling guilty and questioning his small measure of faith.

Also, I find it interesting that Max Von Sydow's wife in both films (and also in THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY) is called Karin. In THE VIRGIN SPRING, Karin is his daughter!

"A fool and his money soon party!"

[–] lokko53 14 years ago

I also think that Death with the chess board is shown at that particular moment to coincide with the suicide of the troubled husband (Max Von Sydow)

[–] Kammurabi 14 years ago

I usually catch things like that the second or third time around but I noticed this right away. It certainly made me smile in admiration. The Seventh Seal is one of my top five favorite films.

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[–] wildmoodswings 10 years ago

I saw this too and thought it was a great touch. Especially as this film has many of the same themes as the Seventh Seal but whereas that film was more metaphorical this one is much more direct, almost Bergman self-parodying in its confrontation.

Also, I noticed that there's a Karin in pretty much every Bergman film (from the 50s and 60s at least, I haven't seen any past that) usually a female lead. I was curious about this, but found out that Bergman's mother was called Karin.

[–] SamoanJoes 9 years ago

I never noticed the painting.