I started watching this once in college, but fell asleep about a half hour into it. I’ve always loved the imagery from the film — the idea of playing chess with Death for the chance to live. I honestly thought this was going to be the majority of the movie, but surprisingly there is very little of the chess match. There a bunch of scenes in here which are so wonderful — the confessional in the church, the crazy woman who’s burned at the stake, and the end when Antonius delays death so the actor and his family can escape death’s grasp. The entire film is a lyrically crafted meditation on death and setting it agains the plague is so smart as well. I didn’t see the point of the actors at the start, but by the end of the film I came to really adore their inclusion in the story. I don’t even recognize Max von Sydow as a young man (I’m so used to seeing him as a very old man). He is so great and you can really see how he stood tall as one of the greatest actors of his generation. I was also surprised at how many funny moments there are here. I found myself laughing way more than I thought I would in a film that deals with such heavy and dark topics.
