There are certain films I hesitate to write about. Not because they are unimportant. On the contrary, these are among the most significant and accomplished films of the 20th century. One reason is that, even after several viewings, those films have not really yielded themselves to me, and I start to understand that they never may do. Although I am aware that I am watching something really extraordinary, I can’t really get together what it is about. They remain difficult to capture and cannot be reduced to a single theme or truth. They leave themselves open to so many possible interpretations. 

One of them is certainly Ingmar Bergman’s Persona from 1966. It is called one of the most influential films in modern cinema. Maybe Bergman’s best film. Bibi Andersson, who plays the nurse Alma in Persona, died a few days ago and this led me to go back and revisit the film. And I found it once again to be completely captivating. And it left me again awestruck, with more questions than the ones I had at my latest viewing of the film. There seem to be innumerable ways to interpret the film. Threads of meaning are given to us, but they aren’t brought together for us.

Bergman commented himself:

“it would be very tactless of me to barge in on that debate and talk about what I really meant by the film. I prefer not to say anything at all. I played my part in this debate when I made the film.”

Persona starts with a six minutes montage of unreadable images, which may carry keys to help decipher meanings or may help to set the stage for what furtheron will unfold. The outer frame of what follows is simple. Elisabeth, played by Liv Ullmann, is an actress who has suffered a psychological breakdown. She has turned mute and is now in a psychiatric facility. The doctor who supervises her assigns the nurse Alma (Bibi Andersson) to her case and lends them her beach summer cottage for further recovery. Elisabeth stays mute during the whole stay. Alma, in an attempt to get her to talk, tells more and more about herself, self-exposingly and vulnerably. Getting no response, at some point language breaks apart for Alma. Bergman illustrates that with letting the filmstrip break. 

Alma’s relationship to Elisabeth threatens to lead to a loss of identity. Their identities fuse, illustrated by the famous, amazing, huge closeup with half of Alma’s face and half of Elisabeth. The facial closeups all through the film are amazing! The ongoing disclosure of the deeper self leads to an erasing of Alma’s personal identity. Elisabeth’s identity has come close to be extinguished by her playing different roles in the theater, leading to her breakdown. Is there some state where role-playing comes to an end and one can attain a true peace of mind? Bergman leaves the interpretation to us.

And this is only one possible thread in the film to reflect about. I invite you to help deepen this one as well as to dig up other ones that this film amply provides us with. 1 hr 25 mins with Bergman’s Persona may fascinate you as it did me!

Rinus, April 2019 

*Image posted for non commercial purposes
under 'fair use' of copyright material in recommendation of the film

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