Review of Persona (1966) by George M — 31 May 2012

One of the most profoundly erotic films, if not the most erotic, in the history of cinema. That is because it understands that eroticism is a much broader concept than any representation of sex or even touch can provide; it is about dominance and submission, exposition of the soul, fear of and attraction to otherness.

Eroticism is thus linked with existential issues and the problems of human relations as much exposure of one's weakness to the other (or should I say the Other?) can lead to ressentment; on the other hand, the strong or dominant sustains his power by feeding on this exposure like a vampire.

However, the power relations can change any moment exactly because the concept of power relies on something that submits to it. The film pushes ambiguity and experimentalism to the limit, with a zenith being the celebrated fusion of the faces of the two actresses.

I cannot imagine a film that goes beyond this limit and sustains coherence. Still, all the experimental aspects are so well contained in this film almost as if it was a classical piece. The performances are suberb.

The scene in which Bibi Andersson tells about the orgy to Liv Ullman is one of the highlights in the acting. The cinematography is a great achievement in its precise, almost minimalistic, way of conveying its object (mise-en-scene helps here too - look at the bare white walls of the hospital for example).

It goes further, by using cinematograohic 'dissonances' such as out of focus in order to create new meanings. The whole film conveys, more than any other maybe, the feeling of raw nakedness, the laying bare of the human soul and the bitterness that follows; it is like a reinstatement of Schoppenhauer's hedgehog's dillema.

Bergman achieved his peak with this film (though he came close to it again later with Cries and Whispers) which is also one of the peaks of world cinema.