Persona is a film directed by Ingmar Bergman starring Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann.
If we talk about Bergman, we inevitably have to know Persona, one of those “rare” films and typical of the brainiest thick-framed glasses geek. But, even if we are also the kind of Bruce Willis fan, we’ll find this film fascinating and so full of nuances that it is worth it.
And yes, we are going to give it five stars and we are going to explain why.
Plot
An actress in crisis has to go on a retreat. There, she will have a very special relationship with the nurse.
The Movie
Persona is not just a good film: it is a fascinating film because of the level of introspection to which it subjects the two main actresses and its cinematographic level, which is very high and also proves to many others that with two actresses and a stage you can make a film that is not a play (nothing to object, but a book is a book and a table, a table).
It is the film that, if possible, gave Bergman the aura of genius with which, today after his death, he still shines. It has everything to fascinate and doesn’t dedicate itself to explaining anything to us, but it makes everything very clear and uses all the elements to not only explain, but suggest at all times the special relationship between these two women (without making any spoilers, but you can imagine that they are the same).
It is a film about individuality and the environment that consumes the individual and the tragedy of living. It doesn’t have a single bloody scene and it is dark and wicked (we like those). He creates with just enough elements (always scarce, hence Bergman is sometimes labeled a “minimalist”) that insane balance that holds us between madness and a sanity that we soon understand cannot and should not exist. He emphasizes it with certain scenes (perhaps some of his most famous) that tell us that this is cinema and I’m messing with you, kid.
He plays (again) with the principles of looking at the camera to make complicity and take the film out of the stage and overcome the fourth wall (again the reality-fiction reflection that we already saw in The Seventh Seal).
I already said it was not a spoiler: the real narrative of this drama (and even thriller one could say, although very boldly) is in the story of Elisabet Vogler (not to be confused with the director of Paris is Us) and how, in a Hitchcock style, it unravels.
A staging really remarkable that makes Persona a true masterpiece.
Although, yes, I recognize that it is one of the “rare” ones.
Our Opinion
You have to see this one. Without fear of recognizing that despite the branded sunglasses and the thousand gadgets of millennial … deep down we all keep a thick-framed glasses geek inside us.
The Cast
 Bibi Andersson / Alma |  Liv Ullmann / Elisabet Vogler |
 Margaretha Krook / The Doctor |  Gunnar Björnstrand / Herr Vogler |
Jörgen Lindström
Persona (1966)
Movie title: Persona
Movie description: An actress in crisis has to go on a retreat. There, she will have a very special relationship with the nurse.
Date published: November 5, 2020
Country: Suecia
Duration: 1h 23 mins
Director(s): Ingmar Bergman
Writer(s): Ingmar Bergman
Cinematography: Sven Nykvist (B&W)
Music: Lars Johan Werle
Actor(s): Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook
Genre: Drama
Companies: Svensk Filmindustri (SF)
Our Opinion
You have to see this one. Without fear of recognizing that despite the branded sunglasses and the thousand gadgets of millennial … deep down we all keep a thick-framed glasses geek inside us.
