Review of Persona (1966) by Sam C — 19 May 2009

A fascinatingly deep film from Bergman with layers upon layers of mysteries that would require repeated viewings to fully understand its mysteries. This is my second viewing of the film and I still left it slightly confused and a little dazed.

Bergman pushed himself to the limits here, and created this eerie experimental film that messes around with the normal conventions of cinema. The acting is top notch here, and Bibi Andersson delivers one of the most erotic monologues in the history of cinema, which even predates the opening monologue found in Godard's Week End. Bergman once expressed that Persona is a poem in images, and it truly is. One only has to look at the opening montage to get a sense for this, but it truly unravels as the film progresses, especially once things begin to heat up at the summer home.

Many people seem to compare this movie to David Lynch's Mulholland Dr, which is a fair comparison. These two movies take a deeper look at the darker side of filmmaking, mainly from the actresses point of view. It's certainly a dark and scary place, but a place I would like to revisit nevertheless.