Review of Persona (2000) by Nick O — 24 Jul 2011

Go crazy trying to crash-land Ingmar Bergman's existential plane of horrific haunt and bother. An 80-minute titan of feminism and expression indescribable, Bergman's "Persona" stands as one of the weirdest reel terrors gunning for open hearts and finding eyes wide shut. So what does Bergman do? Peel out full horror as inertia creeps in relations between mute actress Elisabeth Vogler (Liv Ullmann) and ward nurse Alma (Bibi Anderson). The cast of five also includes a doctor who suggests Vogler clear her mind in his seaside cottage with Alma her companionable watchdog.

Bad idea, worse trip. Dwelling Lynchian layers of paced poetry and images intermittent of Vogler and Alma's awareness of each other's sexual appetites, Bergman cooks half-baked and winds tension by gushing the girls' hopes and secrets, following faith and temptation into the darkness of lavish worship. It's Bergman's expert rendition of the cooperation in repulsion -- and acting revelations of Andersson and Ullmann -- that makes "Persona" more than a face in the crowd. That the feelings are personal give it life beyond image. Alma and Vogler's shared vex may die at the end of nightcap cigarettes, but Bergman ensures they hang over the film's possessive madness at more than intervals.