455. PERSONA (1966)

Running Time: 82 minutes
Directed By: Ingmar Bergman
Written By: Ingmar Bergman
Main Cast: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann

BERGMAN WEEK: CHAPTER VI

I realize that using the word "week" to describe my tribute to Ingmar Bergman is now completely ridiculous, but it's how I always name my tributes and despite being illogical, we'll still go with it. Approximately two months ago I reached the halfway point in my "Bergman Week" festivities and at that point the Swedish director had still yet to "WOW" me, like I had hoped he would. However, "Persona" was a step in the right direction.

The cast is comprised primarily of Bibi Andersson as Sister Alma and Liv Ullmann as Elisabet Volger. Mrs. Volger is an actress, who during a performance went silent for the span of about one minute, not saying a word. The next day Mrs. Volger refused to leave her bed and wouldn't speak a single word - that was three months ago. Still not willing to speak, Mrs. Volger finds herself in the confines of a hospital bed and when the film begins Sister Alma, a nurse, is being assigned to take care of Elisabet. Not making much progress at the hospital, the doctor of the facility prescribes a getaway for Elisabet, in which her and Alma will go to the doctor's summer house on the beach, where they'll be in seclusion and hopefully make some progress. The getaway seems to do Elisabet some good, as she's in good spirits, soaking in the sun, picking berries and writing letters to her husband, but still refusing to open her lips. Alma uses the time to her advantage to, recharging her batteries and using Elisabet as her own personal shrink, bouncing thoughts and secrets her way and appreciating Elisabet's seemingly keen interest. However, things begin to unravel when Alma reads a letter written by Elisabet and not intended for her eyes.

"Persona" is a prime candidate of a movie that I would yammer on and on about, trying my best to decode it, while at the same time trying to write some semblance of a review. In other words, bear with me and I'll try not to drone on and on.

I'll admit that I didn't really, fully understand "Persona". But lets sit that fact to the side for a moment and I will tell you that I was very intrigued by the film, as a whole. I was in love with the two actresses as they perfected their craft before my eyes, playing off one another and being really real while in the confines of an obviously fictitious world. Bergman doesn't hesitate to remind us that we are indeed watching a movie, as the film begins with a projector. We hear a strip of film circulating around a spindle and as Roger Ebert writes in his review, Bergman seems to be eluding that illusion and reality somehow tie in to the film we're about to experience. The dialogue is pretty perfect as well, with perhaps the best bit coming when Alma describes an orgy she had many years prior, on a beach with three strangers. The black and white cinematography is crisp and well defined and at times the sunlight washes over the room, making it look like the actors and sets are blanketed in dew.

No, I didn't fully understand the film, but the plot was enough that I was able to be gripped by it and I left it wanting to know more. It was more than likely the reaction that Bergman wanted me to have, wanted each of his viewers to have - unknowing, almost to the point of frustration, but still curious. Ebert also writes that the film and the viewer seem to share the same relationship that Alma and Elisabet do - "The nurse is maddened by the unspeaking actress in the same sense that the audience is frustrated by the movie: Both stubbornly refuse to be conventional and to respond as we'd expect". I won't go to in depth on my analysis and interpretations, because to tell the truth, my interpretations were few. This is one of the few movies where I've been less concerned with cracking the code and more concerned with just absorbing the film and taking everything in, perhaps so that I would have all the information to turn around in my head.

SPOILER ALERT!

My first reaction was that there was some sort of identity crisis going on. On the surface Elisabet was the sick one, but when you got into the meat & potatoes of the film, Alma was really the one that was more mentally unstable, perhaps not knowing her place in the world or who she should be. In the beginning Alma says that while she has free will and is able to do as she pleases, the rest of her life is pretty much predetermined - she'll marry a man named Karl-Henrik, have kids and grow old. This seems to trouble her and it seems to me that there's much more to her thoughts than I originally thought. It also seems to me that when the film seemingly breaks, at about the halfway point and we see the film burn away, there's probably something VERY significant about THAT particular moment, something that I'd probably need a second viewing to figure out. Let's just suffice it to say that I need to see this movie again someday to fully comprehend it. Hell, I may even need a hand from a few of the essayists who have written about "Persona". However, despite not fully grasping what's going on, I wasn't completely maddened by this film and it held a generous dose of intrigue, holding my interest and keeping me in wonderment.

RATING: 7/10 That's about as far as I can go for the moment, but I'd recommend "Persona" to anyone willing and ready to piece together a puzzle.

MOVIES WATCHED: 411
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 590

March 16, 2012 1:19am