Review of Persona (2000) by Ivan D — 18 Aug 2010

I remember seeing the IMDb page of this film and imagining it as a simplistic drama about emotional connections, only being shocked at how surrealistic and ambiguous the film really was. "Persona" is heavy-handed with its deep psychological theme, and relentless in its depiction by the use of unorthodox imagery, all filed up in a very short running time(at only 81 minutes).

In some ways, the uncanny "fear" and "eeriness" that I have felt while watching this Bergman film is comparable with my viewing experience of the short film "Meshes of the Afternoon".

Both very far from the look of a traditional horror film, but still carves deep into the subconscious, and along with it a weird drama between two(?) unguided women and the bizarre channeling of their psyches.

The opening sequence, which is composed of random grotesque images, may or may not mean anything, but so was the whole film; But its stark, uncommon beauty transcends comprehension and even the most complex of explanations.

The common conception for a film is creating images to complement a pre-conceived story. But what if it's the other way around? It would certainly look like this.