S.W.’s Scores
Continuity
+6
Entertainment
+3
Rewatchability
+3
CastMax von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Bengt Ekerot
StreamingCriterion Channel, digital rental
S.W.’s Verdict
A knight plays chess with Death and the film never blinks. Bergman uses allegory like a scalpel — every scene cuts to the thesis. It is not entertainment in the traditional sense. It is philosophy that happens to be photographed.