Review of Persona (1966) by Alexander A — 12 Nov 2008

With "Persona" Bergman had reached the heights of cinema, and of art. "Persona" is, and I say this without a bit of hesitancy, undoubtedly one the greatest works of art of all time.

Much like a Virginia Woolf novel "Persona" lacks a plot that would normally be considered exciting. However, Bergman uses it ingeniously as a tool to examine two immensely interesting characters and to raise several philosophical questions about identity, reality, and existence.

Aesthetically the film employs a variety of avant-garde techniques, such as the sudden tearing of the film roll in the middle of a scene, to detach the viewer from his comfort zone of reality. The camera work is as beautiful as the two stars of the picture, painting the isolation of Alma and Elisabet with a variety of highly zoomed-in shots.

"Persona" represents the pinnacle merging of style with substance in all the arts, not just film. It uses style in the form of avant-garde techniques to tell a substantial philosophical story of, not just two human beings but of humanity.