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Date: 07 Feb 2001
Time: 07:24:46
Liv Ullman plays Elisabeth Vogler, an actress who has suffered a crisis of confidence. She has had a breakdown and can not only no longer act, but no longer even wants to speak. She is put in the care of Alma, a nurse played by Bibi Andersson. They go to Elisabeth's beach house, hoping that peace and quiet will aid her recovery. The loneliness and silence quickly weighs on Alma and she begins to make up for the lack of conversation from Elisabeth. She has never had anyone who would really listen to her, and now that she has a mute audience, she begins to bare her soul. Soon, their roles have reversed and nurse has become patient. But this description only skirts the surface of Persona. As written and directed by the great Ingmar Bergman, this film is about the very nature of mankind. It is about the duality of our self and the conflict within our soul. Elisabeth is an actress who no longer wants to be judged/critiqued, but who is more than happy to take on the role of judge/critic. Alma ceases to be a caretaker, by revealing her secrets she has become weak and vulnerable.
But it is also about film and the conceit of film. The way we allow our own personality to be subsumed and follow and feel where ever the director takes us. The screen is in control, but it is a tenuous control, the artificiality of filmed experience always threatens to reveal itself. But since our own persona has been subsumed in this illusion, does the fracturing of the illusion fracture our self as well?(or at least that is my interpretation of why we see things like the film suddenly burning up, the shot through the camera, and the soundstage).
I desperately want to own this film in my DVD collection. There are many questions a single viewing simply cannot answer. I know that, like with The Seventh Seal, Persona will only continue to grow richer.
Bergman is my favorite of the filmmakers the S&S challenge has introduced me to. His 3 films that I've seen (Seventh Seal, Persona, Wild Strawberries) have been love at first sight. They are deeply personal, multi-layered, involving stories, skillfully told with talented actors (and Liv Ullman).