Persona
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Movie Reviews of Persona
Movie Review: Persona, or personae?
Summary: 5 Stars
"Persona" isn't one of my favorite Bergman films, although better people than I--including Susan Sontag and Bergman himself--consider it his masterpiece. I'm sure that part of my uneasiness with it is that I just can't quite figure out what's going on in it. Is it a parable about the various personae we all wear to protect ourselves from not only the prying eyes of others but also from our own inner scrutiny? Are Alma and Elisabet alter egos of one and the same person, with Alma being the wild, untamed id and Elisabet the more constricted superego (I realize that this neat Freudian division fails to do justice to the richness of either character)? Is the film the story about two actually different women, one of whom--Alma--is sinking deeper and deeper into psychosis and increasingly abusing the other? All of these interpretations (and others, I'm sure) could be drawn from the film.
My best guess is that "Persona" (or better, I think, "personae," since Alma and Elisabet, in addition to perhaps being masks themselves, each wear multiple masks--masks on top of masks, if you will) is the story of the split in humans that stories such as Hesse's Narcissus and Goldmund, Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Dostoevsky's The Double explore: the reserved, contemplative, Apollonian side of us and the frenzied, ecstatic Dionysian side. The two can co-exist, but they can frequently feud against one another. Alma the Dionysian and Elisabet the Apollonian, each projecting onto the other, each intimately attracted to and violently repulsed by the other, each longing for and fearing integration: this, I think, might be what's going on in the film. If so, "Persona" really is an important parable about what it means to be human.
The acting is superb. Bibi Andersson is astounding in the sheer energy she brings to the role of Alma, and Liv Ullmann's ability to convey deep and various emotions with only subtle facial expressions takes away my breath. But one of the reasons the film isn't my favorite is that I think the famous opening scenes are distractions, and smack too much of the self-consciously arty hijinks that gets so much European cinema mocked at.
Does this mean that the film doesn't deserve 5 stars? Not a bit.
Movie Review: probably the most important movie of the last 50 years
Summary: 5 Stars
Whoa, man. Take a deep breath. Here we have it: the cinematic equivalent of "Hamlet" -- meaning, the piece of work that re-writes all the rules on its own terms, and so creates a newer, bigger idea of the "Self" in art (and thus, in the world).
Nothing you can say about this thing can fully encompass what it IS. There's a whole universe in there. Do I know what this movie "really" means? Of course not! (or, only a little bit.)
Some movies are like a deep, clear well that people can drink from, and get refreshed by, again and again over time. But "Persona" is like the enormous underground aquifer that feeds all of those wells. Almost every really serious movie that's been made since 1966 has had to come to terms with it: either they are kinda-sorta attempted re-makes of "Persona" (everything from 'Two-Lane Blacktop' to 'Apocalypse Now'), or else they are struggling to avoid its immense gravitational pull -- the way that American novelists from the '70s until now had to either imitate "Gravity's Rainbow," or else pretend that it didn't exist. You can never really get to the bottom of this movie: it shows you something new and startling every time you watch it.
What's really astonishing is that it all unfolds on such a "small" scale: the whole thing is really just two women in a hospital and then a summer house, with no big sets, no effects, and almost no "story" to speak of. Kind of like splitting the atom: you had no idea so much energy was hidden inside that tiny speck.
One of the five or so films* that I would use to try and explain to space-aliens what "movies" are, and why they're so cool, and so important. And don't get me started on that opening sequence....
(* -- for those who care, the others are "Casablanca," "Young Frankenstein," Renoir's "Grand Illusion," Romero's "Night of the Living Dead," "Apocalypse Now," and a choice handful of Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck shorts.)
Movie Review: WOW.
Summary: 5 Stars
Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
It's been a while since I've added a movie to my all-time 100-best list after only one viewing. I've been doing a good deal of shifting stuff around recently, but always with movies I've seen ten, fifteen, twenty times that have held up well over decades. Tonight, however, I saw Ingmar Bergman's Persona for the first time, and I really found myself with no choice. I've seen a few Bergman movies over the years, and I've always found them thought-provoking and enjoyable; this is the first one, however, that's grabbed me by the throat and not let go until the final frame.
Bergman's eerie meditation on identity begins with Elisabeth Vogler (Liv Ullmann), a famous actress, in the hospital after what we assume is some sort of mental breakdown. A young nurse, Alma (Bibi Andersson), is assigned to care for her, and as part of Elisabeth's recuperation, the two spend the summer in a remote cottage on the shore. Elisabeth is mute, but Alma does enough talking for both of them. The isolation and Elisabeth's continuing silence, however, begin to play tricks on Alma's mind-- or is her reality changing?
The movie hinges on Andersson's performance, which is as shocking today as it must have been in 1966-- her dialogue ranges from the mundane to the explicit, and she delivers it all with the same bubbliness (at least, in the early stages of the movie). Her character never slips, and she plays it to the hilt. Absolutely riveting. Even more impressive, however, is Ullmann, the silent spectre who often seems as if she's floating through the background of the movie; she doesn't have the benefit of dialogue here, so the power of her role comes solely from her body-- her facial expressions, the way she moves, her posture. And despite the greatness of Andersson's performance, Ullmann steals the show here. That's impressive.
A powerhouse of a film. One of the best ever made. *****
Movie Review: Theatre of Psychological Intimacy
Summary: 5 Stars
PERSONA is one of Ingmar Bergman's best remembered films & one that solidified his reputation as a leading post-World War II film director. It also loosely codified his basic approach: Very theatrical, intimate & psychological--with a dab of surrealism..
At the beginning of the film a psychiatric nurse is given the doctor's explanation of his patient's condition. We learn that she is an actress and that one night while she was playing ELEKTRA she suddenly froze. It was not stage fright, but rather the symptom of a deeply embeded conflict. It's interesting that the role of Elektra should be the catalyst for her neurosis as the play deals with the subject of family betrayal. Freud's theories of the Elektra Complex also factors in with its complex sexual & role dynamics.
Next we see the actress in her hospital room & the TV is on, but she does not react to it. Suddenly a news item shows a monk in Saigon setting himself on fire as a protest to the corrupt regime in power. The actress jumps up and flings herself against a wall in silent hysterics. I interpreted this to signify that her crisis was not just personal, but also the sensitive reaction of a woman highly attuned to her environment & society.
The nurse & her patient go to live in seclusion with the idea that this companionable relationship without any real committment & away from the collective negativity of society will enable the actress to heal & resumme her place in that same society. There are just two little problems: The patient IS an actress & the Nurse is a real person, not just a passive listener.
A psychodrama plays out that is intense & often shocking.
This film is an important archival & historic document.
Movie Review: Truly a work of art!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ingmar Bergman, the great filmmaker responsible for both philosophically and psychologically charged titles such as The Seventh Seal (1957) and Hour of the Wolf (1968) will please fans yet again in Persona.
Persona is a film which explores the psychological nature of identity, despair, the inner quest for individualism, and more importantly the philosophical theme of existence. As always those interested in existentialism and/or Nihilism need look no further than this Bergman masterpiece to supplement their curiosities in the uncanny/subconscious world. Not only does Bergman masterfully explore these themes through complex dialogue (as he's famous for), but also through beautifully imagery.
While literally dozens of scholarly papers on aesthetics and film studies have successfully explored the imagery in Persona, such on-screen representations of emotional and psychological turmoil on the part of the main characters should not be missed. From the famous "burn" during the film's climax (which I mention further in an aesthetics/Bergman article recently written), to the shadow-play of dark and light Bergman uses during the film: this film is amazing.
Regardless of what past reviews say, this is one of Bergman's more "tame" works as far as representational content is concerned and yet it manages to truly be an intense, eye-opening experience. Admittedly in the past some Bergman films - despite being of good quality - have been long, drawn out, and somewhat tiring (reading philosophical texts are sometimes similar). Persona doesn't suffer from this intellectual "lag" at all.
Whether you're already a Bergman fan or you're just getting into his works, this film is a must see!