Persona (1966)

A nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together.

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman (story and screenplay)

Stars:

Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook

Top Rated Movies #196 | Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 6 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bibi Andersson	...	Alma
Liv Ullmann	...	Elisabet Vogler
Margaretha Krook	...	The Doctor
Gunnar Björnstrand	...	Mr. Vogler

Storyline

A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer. Alma eventually confesses her secrets to a seemingly sympathetic Elisabeth and finds that her own personality is being submerged into Elisabeth's persona.

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Plot Keywords:

silence | sex on beach | sex talk | torn photograph | mute character | 

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Taglines:

Previously unseen Director's Cut

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish English

Release Date:

16 March 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Persona

Filming Locations:

Fårö, Gotlands län, Sweden

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP), Aurora, Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

AGA Sound System

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was chosen by Premiere magazine as one of the "100 Movies That Shook the World" in the October 1998 issue. The list ranked the most "daring movies ever made."

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Quotes

Sister Alma: Is it really important not to lie, to speak so that everything rings true? Can one live without lying and quibbling and making excuses? Isn't it better to be lazy and lax and deceitful? Perhaps you even improve by staying as you are. (No response) My words mean nothing to you. People like you can't be reached. I wonder whether your madness isn't the worst kind. You act healthy, act it so well that everyone believes you--everyone except me, because I know how rotten you are.

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Alternate Versions

The American version, released by United Artists, omits a brief close-up shot of an erect penis from the film's pre-credit collage.

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Connections

Referenced in There's Nothing Out There (1991)

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Soundtracks

Adagio from Concerto No. 2 in E major for Violin, Strings and Continuo, BWV 1042
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

Absolute masterpiece

What can I say? It is an absolute masterpiece in some aspects bringing reminiscences of antic tragedies (in terms of gestures mostly - vide Maria Callas in Pasolini's Medea). But most of all this movie, as almost all Bergman's movies, touches humanity of a man and asks us questions that hardly none of directors was able to present in such a clear manner. The story can be read in many ways, but for me the symbolic one is probably the most fruitful. Persona, the face, mask, in a physical meaning as used in Greek tragedies, the way to become someone else, depict and reenact myths. On higher level, symbolic meaning of persona in Jung's psychology together with all his theories about ego. Simply, a 100% must see for every thinking man.