It’s always a revelation when you finally see an art-house classic and understand all the references and influences that have flowed on ever since. So it was with finally watching Persona (1966), part of my catching up on the filmography of director Ingmar Bergman. My initial understanding was that the film was about two women who exchange personalities – which is what it was to some extent, but not quite actually. Elisabet Vogler (Liv Ullmann) is an actor who no longer speaks, struck with silence during a stage performance of Medea, and is in a care facility where she is looked after by a nurse, Alma (Bibi Andersson). When they stay together in a coastal cottage thanks to Alma’s superviser, their relationship develops and it’s not quite a transformation, but a dream-like union or transference. I’m still not quite sure what it all means, and there are different ways to pursue its meanings, which is a testament to its long-standing discussion and theorising (as well as its connections to some of my favourite movies like David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive or Robert Altman’s 3 Women). I reacted to the ways in which Persona deals with mediated horror and trauma, the scene of Elisabet watching the horrors of the Vietnam conflict on the TV, or its exploration of desire and repression with Alma’s story about an illicit secret dalliance on the beach, which was quite absorbing and frankly adult for the era. I thought the performances were great, and the framing of their faces in close up and as figures against the landscape was exquisite (cinematographer Sven Nykvist once again). Even the experiemental movie style opening and close, the inserted image of a penis showing up how even something like Fight Club was influenced by this. Persona is heavy, eerie and involving – and once again, all packed into a light, reasonable running time (84 minutes). Recommended.
VHS Tracking 