Persona (1966)

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman (story)

Release Date:

16 March 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Previously unseen Director's Cut

Plot:

A nurse is put in charge of an actress who can't talk and finds that the actress's persona is melding with hers.

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | Actress | Psychiatry | Identity Swapping | Breaking The Fourth Wall

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins

Cast

Bibi Andersson	...	Alma, The Nurse
Liv Ullmann	...	Elisabeth Vogler, The Actress
Margaretha Krook	...	The Doctor
Gunnar Björnstrand	...	Mr. Vogler

Also Known As:

Kinematografi (Sweden) (working title)

Runtime:

85 min | Argentina:80 min | USA:83 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

AGA Sound System

Certification:

Finland:K-15 (2004) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1967) | France:Unrated | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (re-rating) (2002) | UK:X (original rating) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Fårö, Gotlands län, Sweden

Company:

Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Trivia:

The name of Bibi Andersson's character "Alma" is Spanish for "soul".

Quotes:

The Doctor: I understand, all right. The hopeless dream of being - not seeming, but being. At every waking moment, alert. The gulf between what you are with others and what you are alone. The vertigo and the constant hunger to be exposed, to be seen through, perhaps even wiped out...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Oldboy (2003)

Rambling on...

I don't know what to say about Persona, but I know I have to say something. I can say straight out that I did not fully grasp it, nor do I believe that it is fully able to be grasped. Like my favorite film, 2001, Persona allows for a plethora of interpretations, none of which can ever be said to be correct. But I know now that I do not understand everything. And I love that about it.

Jesus, it needs to be released on DVD. Criterion, are you listening??? Screw everything else for the moment, do a DVD edition of Persona complete with scholarly commentary (and not the same scholar who commented on your edition of The Seventh Seal, because he did not answer my questions). Not that I want anybody to tell me definitively what anything means, because I doubt anyone can do that. I just want some people to share my thoughts with. I want to watch and rewatch this film dozens of times. With a DVD, a nice one, I could scrutinize it extremely carefully, as I have thankfully been able to do with such great films as The Seventh Seal, The Third Man, Nashville, etc, etc, etc. Watch a scene, quickly rewind, watch it again and memorize each and every word and motion. I'm starting to feel like the main character from Antonini's Blowup! I rented this film two days ago and have watched it twice. If I had not been so tired the first night, I surely would have gone through it a second time that very same night. Doubtless, I would have done it again later. And I still have it for a couple of days, the rest of my life be damned!

All I can really comment on is the artistry of Sven Nykvist, the cinematographer, always been one of the very best, and on the acting skills of Liv Ulmann and especially Bibi Andersson, who gives one of the bravest and most powerful performances I've ever seen in a movie. I would compare her skill in this film to my favorite performance of all time (that I've seen): Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris. It seemed to me that she was becoming extremely involved in her character.

And this is where I need to just engulf myself in this film. While I cannot exactly "get" this film from a narrative angle entirely, the important thing, and the aspect of the film which will no doubt bring me back time after time (as long as I can someday get it on DVD, because, as far as I'm concerned, VHS is only for rental anymore) is the emotional aspect. While my intellect had a somewhat difficult time holding on to the text of the film, my emotions were right with the characters. It was an extraordinarily gut-wrenching film for me, and I felt, well, some weird feelings after it ended (part of which certainly had to do with the fact that certain parts of the movie boggled my mind). So my final score is without a doubt a 10/10. Few movies compare.