They are all there. The smith and Lisa and the knight and Raval and Jöns and Skat. And Death, the severe master, invites them to dance.

David Stark / Zarkonnen
12 Aug 2007, 11:35 a.m.
If at all possible, you must go and see The Seventh Seal.

I saw it a few days ago, and though we entered the cinema late and missed the most iconic scene at the start, I was immediately absorbed by the film. Just a knight and his squire riding through the countryside, but the lighting and all is brilliant and keeps your eyes fixed to the screen.

The film is about Death - a returning crusader meets him on the road, and invites him to a game of chess to delay his own demise. So the knight and squire travel on, through a plague-ridden landscape, heading home for a little while...

The film is philosophical, sometimes scary, always beautiful, always quotable and surprisingly funny in places.

Ingmar Bergman, the director, has just died.

Now go and watch it already.