Persona
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Movie Reviews of Persona
Movie Review: "The human face is the great subject of the cinema. Everything is there" - Ingmar Bergman
Summary: 5 Stars
When talking of Bergman, critics and viewers usually name "Wild Strawberries", "The Seventh Seal" or "Cries and Whispers" ahead of Persona. While those films are all amazing and stay very high on my list of all time favorites, for me, the truly unique and unforgettable is "Persona" - Bergman's enigmatic masterpiece.
The story is seemingly simple:
"A nurse, Alma (Bibi Andersson), has been assigned to care for a famous actress, Elizabeth (Liv Ullman), who suddenly stopped speaking during a performance of Electra and has remained silent ever since. When they go to stay in a seaside house owned by Alma's psychiatrist colleague, the apparently self-confident nurse gradually reveals more and more of herself in the face of Elizabeth's silence, and is shocked to read a letter the actress has written implying that Alma is an interesting case-study. The two women seem almost to exchange identities, or to become one (strikingly expressed visually in a famous shot); in a dream sequence (or perhaps fantasy), Elizabeth's husband comes to visit and seems to think that Alma is his wife. Finally Alma, back in her nurse's uniform, catches a bus to go home, leaving the almost-mute Elizabeth alone."
Whether Alma was able to get her identity back remains one of the film's many questions.
What is absolutely wonderful in the film - performances from two actresses. Anderson is the one who has to carry almost the entire dialog, her voice is one of the film's priceless treasures while Ullman is equally powerful in expressing hundreds of emotions through her face and eyes. Sven Nykvist's camera, the third star of the film makes two stars shine so bright.
Each scene in 81 minutes long film is memorable, some of them just unforgettable. For instance, the long scene where Alma reveals her most intimate memories of a sexual encounter with two boys while sunbathing nude with another girl on an empty beach, is infinitely more erotic to listen to than it would have been to see in flashback.
There is so much to think about in Persona. One major question concerns Elizabeth's silence: is it elective, as happens in Tarkovsky's "Andrei Rublyov" , or is it some kind of mental breakdown?. The documentaries about the war horrors that Elizabeth watches on TV suggest the former; the fact that it suddenly happens during a stage performance of "Electra" suggests the latter. I keep thinking about it. Why "Electra" of all plays? The story of the daughter who hated her mother and wanted her dead - does it reflect the accusation brought up by Alma that Elizabeth did not love her deformed son and wanted him dead? Did Elizabeth become so overwhelmed by guilt realizing that her life reminded so much of Electra's story? We don't know for sure, and Bergman does not help. The identical monologue in which Alma is accusing Elizabeth is the film's resolution. We hear it twice: first time, camera is concentrating on Elizabeth's face, second time - on Alma's. Is Alma talking about Elizabeth or herself or both? After that encounter on the beach, Alma became pregnant and had an abortion. The monologue may reflect her feelings of guilt and emptiness as well as Elizabeth's. Does it really happen?
Is Elizabeth a vampire sucking the life out of her victims only to use them as characters for her acting roles? Is that the ultimate price the artist is paying for being a great artist? Does he need lives and souls of others to be able to create? Can he/she love the ones who utterly depend on them and need their love? This film and later Autumn Sonata (1978) with Ingrid Bergman as a concert pianist show famous stars as selfish women who can't and don't love their children. The same question was brought up also in the earlier "Through a Glass Darkly (1961)" - in the relationship of the writer and his daughter.
Then there is the question of whether there are really two women at all; could the whole film be played out as a fantasy of one of them, or indeed of somebody else? Is there a sexual attraction between the two women? It might be or might be not. I believe, David Lynch has watched "Persona" very carefully, thought about it and used some of its ideas in his own "Mullholland Dr."
There are so many questions in this incredible film that are left unanswered. For almost forty years, viewers and filmmakers alike have been trying to find the answers. One thing is obvious - this is one of the films you want to watch over and over again. I think it should be seen by any viewer. If you've seen it already - see it again. You'll learn something new. If you have not seen it - you are in for a great experience. See it for Sven Nykvist's camera work, for Liv's face, for Bibi's voice, for the unique and mysterious world that is Ingmar Bergman's universe.
Movie Review: Trying To Crack The "Persona"
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw Ingmar Bergman's "Persona" about eight years ago. I was fourteen years old at the time and after watching the film I was utterly confused as to what I had just seen and yet at the same time I knew I had just seen one of the greatest films I would ever see. Conversation after conversation the movie would come up. I only saw it that one time but I felt as if I could recite the entire film for you. It had that kind of lasting power. The film stays with, absorbs your thoughts.
The story goes during the 1960's critics of Ingmar Bergman were starting to complain the master was old hat. His films were starting to look pale when compared to the French New Wave. Could Bergman compete with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard? Was Bergman's style of filmaking boring? Was it heavy-handed and stifle? In reaction to these comments Bergman decided to shut them all up and thus "Persona" was made. And it didn't exactly shut the critics up. Now they started saying what kind of genius Bergman was. Here with one film Bergman proved his methods were not old-fashion. One of Bergman's next films, "Hour of the Wolf" would also be experimental, but would be considered one of his "lesser" films. Though I've noticed on amazon that people seem to be rediscovering that film. Because DVD has something to do with that. Now it people is easy to obtain and younger people are starting to watch it. But back to "Persona".
We can immediately sense the contradictions between Elizabeth (Liv Ullmann, "A Passion of Anna", "Shame") and Alma (Bibi Andersson, "The Touch", "The Devil's Eye"). Elizabeth has been mute for three months. Alma is a very talkative person. Elizabeth is married and has a child. Alma is not, but would like to start a family. And has the film goes on we find out a shocking secret about Alma's past. It would appear we are getting two sides of the same personality. At one point Alma even says she think she and Elizabeth are the same person.
Elizabeth is an actress and Alma is a nurse that has been assigned to take care of her. Soon it is clear nothing mentally is wrong with Elizabeth and there is really no need to keep her, but she refuses to go home. Soon it is suggested Alma and Elizabeth share a summer house.
At this point and perhaps even before it "Persona" manages to have a nightmare quality to it. It is hard for us to believe what we are seeing is real. The walls of reality are quickly crumbling. We start to question who is who. Does Elizabeth complete Alma or does Alma complete Elizabeth. Who's story is it really?
One of the film's most intense moments comes near the end when Alma notices Elizabeth hiding a picture of her son. What is extremely important here is the way Bergman and cinematographer Sven Nykvist have set up the shot. It is a close up of Alma's face as she tries to guess what made Elizabeth want to become a mother. But soon it is clear, we are not talking about Elizabeth. We are talking about Alma. The scene is really a confession. Alma looks directly at us. We must confront her and she must confront us. Bergman then uses a split screen and now we see half of Alma's face and half of Elizabeth's. Bergman is doing more than just drawing a pcture for us. He's beating us on the head with it after he's done drawing it. We get the connection.
"Persona" was an extremely influential film, especially on American directors such as Robert Altman ("3 Women") and David Lynch ("Mulholland Drive"). But even in their cases they don't seem to be working on the same level as Bergman. He seems to be a step ahead of them. It is as if "Persona" can not be duplicated.
But perhaps I'm wrong about everything I've said. Perhaps there are no parallels between Elizabeth and Alma. Maybe the film is not about guilt, trauma, identity lost, the way people expect us to act in society or even the role of women. Maybe the film is really about how to file your income tax. But at least I've made you think. And that was all this review was suppose to do.
I want to mention one more thing. As I watched to film I thought what if the movie is all dream and everything started to occure right when one of the women got their abortion. What if the movie is about the guilt she felt over the act. There's something else to think about.
Bottom-line Simply not only one of the greatest films Ingmar Bergman ever made but one of the greatest films of all time. The performances are as powerful as in any other Bergman film. The movie doesn't seem to miss a step. Behind 'Wild Strawberries' this is my favorite Bergman film.
Movie Review: "You'll Always Will Have Your Laughter"
Summary: 5 Stars
Just finish watching "Persona" from my Ingmar Bergman box set and I must tell you that (after watching "Through a Glass Darkly", "Winter Light", and "The Silence") this was the greatest movie that he ever did. So much that it's one of the five greatest classic movies (pre-1970) I ever saw in my life (other four are "Bullitt", "Lawrence of Arabia", "North By Northwest", and "Casablanca"). Great performances from Bibi Andersson (who looks like the British actress of that time-Susannah York) and Liv Ullmann (who would start a relationship with the director after he divorced from his wife; even though it lead to nothing despite having a child) as Alma-the nurse who helps troubled young actress Elisabeth Vogler (Ullmann); who has hit a wall when she walks out of rehearsal of the play 'Electra' and refuses to speak. We also get a walk-on role from Ingmar's favorie actor Gunnmar Bjornstord as Elisabeth's husband.
But the real star is the cinematographer Sven Nykvist (who was Bergman's D.O.P. since "The Virgin Spring") and "Persona" has to be one of the ten greatest shot films of all time. Just look at the black-and-white and the shadows on the interiors and on the lead actresses' faces: He did an accomplishment that not even all the movies of the film noir genre could create. While the sequence in which Bergman films the same scene twice through the ladies' perspective (instead of cutting back and forth) is astonding.
There are two scenes that stand out: One is the long dialogue that Andersson gives to Ullmann in which she tells her a story about how she was suntanning naked on a beach with her lady friend when two teenage boys came up. As the camera focuses in on Andersson and Ullmann, Alma explains that it lead to sex between them and that caused her to come home with her husband and have sex again to get pregnant; which she did but she had to have an abortion and was told never to have a child again. I'm telling you that was the first time in a long while that I got an erection from a movie just by dialogue; especially when Alma tells Elisabeth in detail about the foreplay ("He grabbed my breast"), feeling the boy's penis inside her vagina, and experiencing an orgasm. She even said 'Shooting his sperm' at one point!
The other moment comes when Alma fights with Elisabeth over why she will not talk (I liked that scene before it when Ullmann is sitting on a table wearing a big hat while Andersson is against the wall wearing black glasses and although you don't see eyes, you can tell from her lips that Alma is really pissed off; which leads to her walking up the rock field and throws the glasses off her face and on the ground as if to say 'My gloves are off!'). It leads to Alma getting her nose bloody and in the film's defining moment, after she poked her left cheek, Elisabeth grabs her hand on it and gives a evil smile at her. That gave me chills considering that if they ever do a film montage on the movies in the 1960's that moment would be in there right next to Ernest Borgnine's character Dutch giving an evil smile of his own in "The Wild Bunch" (see my review of that movie).
Then there's Ullmann's performance. It is a shock as to why the Academy people did not nominate her for Best Supporting Actress considering that they nominated Vivien Merchant for "Alfie" even though she is in for only one scene while Ullmann is seen for basically the entire film of "Persona"...and she only speaks THREE TIMES! How can't that be Oscar worthy? Truth be told, I think she should of won it anyway because it's more stronger than the real winner-Sandy Dennis for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" In all, it's a great movie. Leonard Martin in his book said that "Persona" is a movie for people that are feeling blue. And he is correct because this is one of the reasons why 1966 was the best year film had in the 60's. Or as what Andersson said to Ullmann as an example, "I'm not Elisabeth Vogler. You're Elisabeth Vogler."
Movie Review: One of Bergman's most thought-provoking films, straighforwardly entertaining for auteur fans but with endless interpretation
Summary: 5 Stars
PERSONA ranks as one of Ingmar Bergman's masterpieces. Released in 1966 after a three-year hiatus following his "chamber films" of the early 1960s, PERSONA is Bergman's first mature film focusing entirely on human psychology and interpersonal relationships, leaving behind the religious angst of his earlier output.
Even before the action of the film begins, we are treated to an incredible mix of images. We see an arc lamp come to life and film rolling through a projector. A silent comedy film pops up for a few moments, only to be replaced by enigmatic footage of a slaughtered lamb and a hand being nailed to a cross. Finally, a boy wakes up (incidentally the same actor as the child protagonist of Bergman's earlier film TYSNADEN), puts his glasses on, and picks up a book (incidentally the same book as in that earlier film). But he is suddenly distracted, and holds his hand out to the camera. We see the boy touch some invisible screen, as the eerie images of two women alternate upon it. Then, the credits roll. This opening montage may seem unnecessary, but it serves as Bergman's way of hammering home the point that what we are watching is a film, and far from being banal entertainment, cinema is in fact capable of expressing striking truths, as we are about to experience.
The plot of PERSONA initially seems simple. The nurse Alma (Bibi Andersson) is tasked with caring for Elizabet Vogler (Liv Ullmann), an actress who has mysteriously ceased speaking. As Alma jabbers away, while Mrs Vogler says nothing, the action develops much like in Strindberg's play "Der Starkare". But a series of events suggests that things are much more complex than they seem. Are Alma and Volger the same woman, representing just two different facets of a single personality? This interpretation is a popular one and quite probable, but the film's mysteries don't end there. What is the meaning of the two historical tragedies Vogler witnesses, the clearing of the Warsaw ghetto and the self-immolation of the Vietnamese monk? Unlike contemporaries like Vilgot Sjoman, Bergman never directly responded to the violence of the mid-century, and I daresay here we get an explanation why, for how can mere words adequately relate to such horror?
If you don't like auteur cinema, and films that are fairly open in interpretation, then I don't know if I can convince you to love PERSONA in a humble Amazon review. Nonetheless, this is a film I highly recommend for the questions it raises. Rarely does one encounter a work of art that provides such satisfying challenge and leaves one thinking about it for a long time after it ends.
Sven Nykvist's cinematography expertly serves Bergman's storytelling. I was especially stunned by a long rolling shot as Alma and Mrs Vogler run along a beach. One gets the sense that after the intentionally limited "chamber trilogy", Nykvist was reveling in the greater variety of shots available to him. I'm impressed by how Bergman presents a plot that feels so epic when in locations and casting, at least, this is more similar to the chamber trilogy than the films of the late '50s. Besides Alma and Mrs Vogler, there are only two other characters, a psychaitrist (Margaretha Krook) and Mrs Vogler's husband (Gunnar Bjornstrand) who appear only briefly.
Movie Review: An Ingmar Bergman Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
Persona and The Seventh Seal are commonly called the masterpieces of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. I've seen The Seventh Seal, with images that have been parodied and plagiarized endlessly; A movie with a pretty straightforward narrative sans a few scenes here and there. Then there is Persona, a movie that seems to have a straightforward narrative but makes you think anyway. This isn't a movie like Mulholland Dr. or something, so the fact that it confuses is actually confusing. It begins with a brilliant opening sequence, which seems to suggest it's beginning at the birth of cinema. It includes random, sometimes subliminal, images flashing across the screen before a white title card with black print appears, reading: Persona. Maybe the movie is held within the title. Persona, singular. Liv Ullmann plays Elisabeth, an actress whom suddenly stopped speaking in the middle of a stage performance. Now in a hospital, a psychiatrist suggest to a twenty-five year old, engaged nurse named Alma (Bibi Andersson) that she spend the summer with Elisabeth in a secluded house. Once there, there's a strange dynamic with Alma doing all the talking and Elisabeth doing all the listening. The patient-caregiver relationship the two have suddenly becomes a much deeper psychic attraction. One scene that occurs, almost without warning, seems to underline this attraction...Elisabeth and Alma's faces combine, like a morph. I think few people will argue that this is one of the great shots in cinema, despite not being incredibly difficult to do. This is the kind of movie that could have been made by many people, but no one could have made it like Bergman did. First off, the movie came out in 1967, well into the "color" era, even though most filmmakers still hadn't experimented much with color. This movie, if made today by Bergman, would probably still be shot in black-and-white. Most films that use B&W in today's cinema use it for a good reason and for a film like Persona, I don't think it could be done in color. The cinematography gives it a much more stark, disturbing quality. The movie has aged perfectly, hardly aged at all. It looks like it could've been made this year and digitally drained of color. The performances, also, are incredible; Ullmann says a single sentence in the movie (technically...you'll know what I mean if you've seen the movie) and yet her eyes seem to serve as a way to fuel her performance. There's one stunning scene in Persona, which (from what I've read) it seems most people remember from the movie. Alma tells Elisabeth a story involving a beach, her friend, and two boys. Most writer/directors wouldn't dare write a monologue like this into a film. Not because of the content, but because they would fear it would test the viewer's patience. This scene is more detailed when spoken that it could've been had they filmed it. I could easily explained what Alma had said, as if I'd seen the actual event occur onscreen. Since I've only seen three films by Bergman (The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, and this) and I've only seen them once, I'd have to view this and The Seventh Seal to decide which one is better. Either way, I notice that this film was listed in a book called The 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. And you do.
GRADE: A