Ah, Persona by Igmar Bergman. Now, here is a film that is just begging to be discussed and analyzed. I have yet to find a definitive explanation about what is going on in this film. I have yet to decide myself on my own personal theory...mine seems to vary upon each viewing. All I know is that this is one of my all time favorite films.
Bergman films have a way of painfully stripping away the bull until all you are left with is brutal honesty. While his films can be brutal they are also beautiful. You can can pretty much pause any of his films, especially Persona, at any point and the composition makes up a beautiful or at least interesting photo. I love how in Persona he uses the close up and gets in on Liv Ullman's and Bibi Anderson's faces, the whole story is told in their facial expressions – you almost don't need sound. Who cares whats going on when Liv Ullman and Bibi Andreson's faces alone can keep you captivated.
I love all of Bergman's films, this one is probably my favorite and once you have seen it you can see it's influence everywhere...Mulholland Drive anyone? This is a film I could go on and on about, but the more I say the less I seem to know when it comes to this one, so I'll stop right here. I'm interested to hear what others think about this film. Please leave a comment.
- Loegan Magic
PERSONA (1967) DIRECTED BY: INGMAR BERGMAN
To achieve more effective treatment, a nurse (Bibi Andersson) and her patient (Liv Ullmann) -- an actress who's lost the power of speech -- check into a private cottage by the sea, where the two isolated women become co-dependent and insanely jealous of each other. It's a case of the cure being worse than the affliction in this black-and-white cinematic classic directed by Swedish master Ingmar Bergman.
-From Netflix website
LENGTH: 83 minutes
LANGUAGE: Swedish with English Subtitles
RATING: NR (intended for mature audiences)
ABOUT INGMAR BERGMAN
-From Wikipedia
Other Bergman films include, The Seventh Seal (1957), The Virgin Spring (1960), Winter Light (1962), Fanny and Alexander (1982).
I agree about the exquisite compositions in this film. There's some beautiful imagery. When Elisabet emerges out of the light into Alma's bedroom, dressed in a white night dress with white drapes billowing around her, it's just a wonderful shot. And the way he managed to merge half of Bibi Andersson's face and half of Liv Ullmann's so exactly was very skilful, and well before CGI!
ReplyDeleteTo me, on one level at least, it seems Persona can be seen as an examination of the psyche in conflict; about the struggle to reconcile the complex facets of the personality. The balancing of the id, ego and the super ego, if you like. There's the guilt ridden, real world-based Sister Alma (ego) who does all the talking, desiring boundaries and rebelling against them. Then the silent, judgemental and aloof conscience, as personified by Elisabet, which could be seen to represent the super ego (as opposed to God in other Bergman films). The moral conscience, constantly alert, horrified by war, injustice and suffering (the terrible footage of the burning Buddhist monk) and who craves a secure, idealistic existence. And Alma who asks "Isn't it better to let yourself babble and flounder? Wouldn't it be better to be just what you are?" Being versus doing. And the montage sections, do these represent the id maybe? Or am a stretching the Freudian analogy a bit too far?