Persona (1966)

Film: Persona

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Country: Sweden

Released: August 1966

Runtime: 84 minutes

Genre: Drama

Studio: AB Svensk

Influenced: Kubrick, Chantal Akerman, David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, Lynne Ramsay, Edgar Wright

Possibly the most overinterpreted film in cinema history, Ingmar Bergman's Persona is unique, unknowable and unclassifiable. I make no attempt here to fathom its depths, instead what interests me more are the film's cinematic innovations and legacy. Persona is a story of two women, Elisabet Vogler (Liv Ullmann), a famous actress who has mysteriously become mute, and Alma (Bibi Andersson), a young nurse assigned to take care of her in a secluded seaside cottage. As the two women spend more time together, their identities begin to blur, and their relationship becomes increasingly intense and complex. Influenced by the psychoanalytic theories of Carl Jung, the film explores themes of identity, communication and the human psyche in a powerfully enigmatic way.

Bergman wrote the outline of Persona in nine weeks while recovering from pneumonia in hospital and took a different approach with this film, abandoning the idea of a set and rigid screenplay before shooting to allow for more improvisation. One of the film's most significant innovations is Bergman's use of visual techniques to convey complex ideas and emotions. The film is shot in black and white and features several striking images, such as the famous opening sequence of a boy reaching out to touch a screen filled with faces. Other abstract images also flash by in the opening sequence, like a spider, and Bergman's intent appears to be one of viewer disorientation and the suggestion of themes like identity and breakdown of communication. The use of the screen also foreshadows the relationship between Elisabet and Alma, who will become entangled in a kind of psychological projection.

In a similar vein to fellow Scandinavian Carl Theodor Dreyer, Bergman was deeply interested in the landscape of the human face. One of the film's most famous scenes is a conversation between Elisabet and Alma on a beach. As they talk, the camera switches between close-ups of their faces, blurring the line between their identities. Persona also ends with a close-up of Elisabet's face, which is then superimposed with a series of images, including a spider, a lamb and a nail being driven into a hand. This sequence is significant in terms of its exploration of identity, sanity and the relationship between reality and fiction. The use of the nail seems to symbolise the idea of sacrifice and the wounds that we carry with us.

Another significant innovation is the film's use of sound. The score, composed by Lars Johan Werle, features a haunting electronic soundtrack that adds to the film's sense of unease and otherworldliness. Persona isn't quite a horror film, but it's damn close and there's something disturbing about the dark, psychological undertows that it portrays. The film also features several moments of silence, highlighting the breakdown of communication between the two women. In terms of legacy, the film's visual style and techniques of jump cuts and superimpositions have become a staple of experimental filmmaking and its themes still remain a lively source of academic discussion.

Persona can be seen as a representation of the human psyche in 2 parts:

1) The Mask (Persona) – as exemplied in the first half of the film

2) The Soul (Alma) – as exemplified in the second half

When Alma puts her uniform back on, she returns to the Mask.

“A limitless, never satisfied, ever renewed, unbearable curiosity drives me forward. It never leaves me in peace” – Bergman