In the Seventh Seal why does Death let the chess game happen?

grill_gus

The chess scene in The Seventh Seal is arguably the most classic scene in all of cinema: About a minute earlier the Knight has said that he is not ready and Death told him basically that it doesn't matter and there's no delaying this!. So why does Death let the game happen?

Originally asked by Snack_Food_Termite on Stack Exchange (movies) (CC BY-SA 4.0).

uphilltech

Great question — answering as the UphillTech team:

Ingmar Bergman was partially inspired to make The Seventh Seal by a painting by medieval Swedish artist Albertus Pictor which depicts the personification of death playing chess with a knight. As a result Bergman chooses to portray Death as being an enthusiastic player of chess, willing to extend Antonius Block's life seemingly for no other reason than because he enjoys the challenge. KNIGHT You play chess, don't you? A gleam of interest kindles in DEATH'S eyes. DEATH How did you know that? KNIGHT I have seen it in paintings and heard it sung in ballads. DEATH Yes, in fact I'm quite a good chess player. KNIGHT But you can't be better than I am.

Full answer by Kyle Doyle: https://movies.stackexchange.com/a/101887 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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