Director: Ingmar Bergman
Year: 1966
Country: Sweden
Language: Swedish
Persona is one of legendary Swedish Director Ingmar Bergman's most peculiar films, even though it is not too difficult to understand as all the scenes, even the dream scenes, are perfectly clear. I find myself watching this film over and over again, in attempt to analyze the great cinematic style of Bergman. I also realize that this is a film of buried truths and complicated emotions, to uncover them all is a long yet fruitful endeavor. It's a film that if made by any other man could be labelled "pretentious", yet Bergman pulls it all off perfectly.
Persona is about a young nurse named Alma (Bibi Andersson) who is put in charge of Elizabeth Volger (Liv Ullman); an actress who seems like she is at the peak of her health, with the exception that she refuses to talk. As they spend time together, Alma constantly finds company in speaking to Elizabeth, even though she never receives an answer. She reveals a lot of her deep secrets to the seemingly sympathetic Elizabeth. Slowly Alma's personality is emerging with Elizabeth's Persona.
This film opens with a series of quite unusual images a spider, a montage from silent comedies, a spike being driven through a man's hand, and faces in a morgue. Then it cuts to a picture of a young boy watching women's faces appear on a giant screen in front of him. The montage intentionally distorts reality and gets us ready for one hell of a psychological film. Persona is somewhat of a female power game. Alma starts off as a confident nurse who does all the talking in their "relationship", though who really knows if Elizabeth is actually listening? Therefore Alma feels in control of the silent woman. However over the course of the film, Alma's stability seems to disintegrate Her talks that were designed to help Elizabeth end up becoming confessions of secrets, desires and guilt. Eventually her mask or "persona" is taken away, and we see a completely different side of the character.
It is quite interesting that words begin the downfall of a rather healthy woman. Perhaps Elizabeth was never really sick, what it wrong with not wanting to talk? Alma's language begins to break down and we see her struggling to perform coherent phrases. Bergman's brilliant use of close-ups show the intricate details of her emotionally fragile state. Steady movements of the camera show the emerging ambiguity of each woman's identity. It can also be seen as a study about loneliness and what that can do to a human being. Alma's chatter shows a desperate need for human contact and I guess Elizabeth will be this "victim". She goes as far as to describe an orgy she had on the beach, it's interesting to see how far times have changed.
In conclusion, while this may not be Bergman's best (many agree that title would belong to The Seventh Seal) I think it is Bergman's most psychological. Certainly the optic effect of fusing the woman's faces into one haunting image is intense and unique to Swedish film. Again, I must applaud the director for making such a great film dominated by women. Praise it! 5/5
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