Persona
1967 Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Synopsis
Persona is a psychoanalytical film from Swedish director Ingmar Bergman and reputed as his greatest masterpiece. 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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Berken's May 30 Days, 30 Countries Challenge Film nº 12 - Sweden
After a surrealist introduction preparing us for this film, a freudian study of one's mind begins. A former actress devoted to silence is taken care by a nice nurse and both are sent to the doctor's summer cottage, the actress for healing, the nurse for assistance. Everything seems fine until their personalities start to merge as reality and fantasy.
It's not an easy movie to understand, it definitely deserves a rewatch, and more than one conclusion can be drawn from it. I won't talk about what I understood from it, because the beauty of this film is to watch it without having a preconceived idea in mind.
What…
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Part of my Around the World in May-ty Days list
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Sometimes I wait a few hours before writing a review just to wrap my head around a movie. This is not one of those times. Not because I understand the movie (heh), but because my mind is going to be consumed by this film for what's probably going to be the next week.
Bergman's black and white psycho-drama is a baffling, dark (literally) and strange film that will definitely take multiple viewings to even come close to understanding, a prospect I fully welcome if only for those two lead performances.
I'm just going to cut the review there. Not going to be for everyone, but I'd definitely recommend it.
(Idea: I need to watch a triple feature of this film, 3 Women and Mulholland Dr.)
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Film #29 of Cinebro's "I Picked the Wrong Week to Quit Sniffing Glue" Challenge
To me, watching "Persona" is like watching Garry Kasparov play chess: I know that I'm watching a genius at work, but I'm not smart enough to see how all of the moves make sense. That's not to say that I dislike it, though. On the contrary, I enjoy watching it (and being frustrated and befuddled by it) as much as just about any other film. I imagine that I'll watch it again sometime in the new year, and probably the year after that. But no matter how many times I watch it, I still find that it operates on a level that I can't quite reach.…
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Director - Ingmar Bergman
Writer - Ingmar Bergman
Cast - Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook and Gunnar BjornstrandHow do you review a film like Persona? It’s a question that’s been bugging me for about an hour now and I still don’t think I’m making any real progress. On the one hand, I could talk about how artistic and creative it is, and how it really managed to get under my skin. On the other hand, I could talk about how it doesn’t make a blind bit of sense to me and how I don’t feel clever or worthy enough to offer my own interpretation of its story. You see, that’s the problem; I loved Persona as a…
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Persona is undeniably a work of art, from its avant-garde opening to the effortless use of light/dark dichotomy to the almost medical treatment of its philosophical/psychological core. To be completely honest, it wasn't until the third act that the story gelled for me, and it was one of those giddy realizations that instantly re-colored everything in the film up until that point. The less I say about it, the better (both to keep it unspoiled and to not make a fool of myself with material far too intelligent for me), but it demands a revisit sooner rather than later.
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I decided to tackle the beautiful beast that is Bergman's 'Persona' again, only to be swept up in it's cinematic sweep of surrealism, it's stark photography and use of light and shadows, it's heart-wrenching performances and it's sheer beauty. I feel no words are necessary other than to recommend all film-lovers to watch a master film-maker deliver one of his finest films, a film that will make it's mark on your cinephile journey no matter what point it's at. This is a brave piece of film-making that just makes me want to go on a Bergman binge immediatly. I am also shifting my previous score up a notch to it's deserved rating. Go now intrepid one and seek this out!
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It's Ingmar Bergman. So, at least to me, it is obvious that the film is about his inner conflicts as an artist. The fusion of the two lead characters isn't meant to be taken literally. I don't believe they are two halves of the same person despite the heavy symbolism, of which I didn't find pretentious in the slightest. One has blonde hair while the other is a brunette. One is an actor while the other works in medicine. One is mute (by choice?) while the other is a chatterbox. The yin and yang metaphor isn't subtle. However, what is not apparent is what the hell it all means.
I think it's about Bergman himself. The struggle to find a…
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An exploration of loneliness? An acknowledgement of the need for companionship?
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Berken's May 30 Days, 30 Countries Challenge Film nº 12 - Sweden
After a surrealist introduction preparing us for this film, a freudian study of one's mind begins. A former actress devoted to silence is taken care by a nice nurse and both are sent to the doctor's summer cottage, the actress for healing, the nurse for assistance. Everything seems fine until their personalities start to merge as reality and fantasy.
It's not an easy movie to understand, it definitely deserves a rewatch, and more than one conclusion can be drawn from it. I won't talk about what I understood from it, because the beauty of this film is to watch it without having a preconceived idea in mind.
What…
-
Part of my Around the World in May-ty Days list
--
Sometimes I wait a few hours before writing a review just to wrap my head around a movie. This is not one of those times. Not because I understand the movie (heh), but because my mind is going to be consumed by this film for what's probably going to be the next week.
Bergman's black and white psycho-drama is a baffling, dark (literally) and strange film that will definitely take multiple viewings to even come close to understanding, a prospect I fully welcome if only for those two lead performances.
I'm just going to cut the review there. Not going to be for everyone, but I'd definitely recommend it.
(Idea: I need to watch a triple feature of this film, 3 Women and Mulholland Dr.)
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experimental setting of a woman and her woman
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this is what i call a scandinavian minimalist piece of movie that has the complexity and depth that this movement should have.
this film works in many ways, it is so filled with messages and so full of metaphors that you can see why everyone find it as rich; this film very surreal opening might be a clue of how random life can be but it might also be a hint of the use of cinematic liberties.
this film works because of its many layers and many levels; yes, it is a story of a nurse and her patient, the symbiotic relationship that develops and therefore how interchangeable they both become by the end, one could as easily argue that… -
Surrealism, mental breakdowns and monologues.
Aaww, Bergman's masterpiece.
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high on the "cultural vegetables" list, persona is punctuated with (not enough) fits of haunting experimental weirdness, intense psychological themes, and black and white cinematography that lingers on the beauty of liv ullman. this film is an obvious influence on many current masters of film, including almodovar, lynch and soderbergh in both tone and trickery; and, there's at least some cultural curiousity to keep one's attention for a single viewing, if only to catch any future sly cultural references that are tossed my way. However, Its' tempo proves too glacial and bergman's challenge level to the viewer are too much of a hurdle to warrant ever returning to what is very definition of pretentious art house cinema.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.