Persona (Swedish, 1966)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
A highly complex film which showcases the human emotions in a rather abstract manner. Viewers of left to interpret the story in their own way.
It starts with Elizabeth, a famous theatre actress who is brought in to the psychiatric ward after she just went blank during a performance and just refused to speak afterwards. Sister Alma is assigned by the psychiatrist to get close to her and tries to get to the root of her problem. All the while, Elizabeth does not talk, refuses to talk when spoken to. She does her own things, she reads, watches TV etcetera. She is visibly shaken by violence shown on TV - self immolation of a monk in Vietnam, pictures of Auschwitz. In the meanwhile, Sr Alma seem to be talking all the time revealing a lot about herself. She is engaged to be married soon to a doctor. Secretly, in her bed, Alma is grateful with her life, apparently complete and soon to have a few kids. Within the next second, she questions herself whether that is what she really wants.
One day, Elizabeth receives a letter with the picture of her son in it. She is disturbed and tears it away.
The psychiatrist in charge suggests a beach bungalow for Elizabeth's recovery. Sister Alma accompanies her there.
Things improve there. Elizabeth becomes more chirpy, they do things together and they get close. It is only Alma who speaks all the time whilst the patient remains mute. In an evening, after too much of drinks, Alma confides in non talking Elizabeth some of her inner secrets - her one time impulsive infidelity, her pregnancy and her clandestine termination of pregnancy. And Alma breaks down. Wait! It looks like the role had reversed; Alma the confused and Elizabeth the silent listener.
The next day, life goes on as if nothing happened. In fact, on the night previously, Elizabeth had broken her silence but Alma was too drunk to appreciate. Elizabeth passed some letters for Alma to post. Unable to resist her temptation, Alma sneaks into an unsealed letter to find a letter to her doctor telling about Alma's health condition instead. Realizing and angry that she is being psychoanalyzed, a cat and mouse game starts. Alma tries to hurt Elizabeth and abhors her silence.
Then, in the next bizarre scene (dream scene?), somebody calls for Elizabeth. It is supposed to be Elizabeth's husband and he starts talking to Alma and becomes quite passionate with her right in front of Elizabeth!
The climax of the movie is a scene which is repeated, each showing each character's facial expression as Alma delivers a monologue. In this scene, both actresses look almost alike at their faces are superimposed. Elizabeth is accused to be a renowned theatrical icon who cannot leave the limelight of the stage but the inner desire to fulfill her need to conceive. When she actually conceived, she realized that the mistake she has made- the change in body shape, size and absence from work etcetera. She tried unsuccessfully to abort the child and secretly hope the child would be a stillbirth. The child was born after a long difficult labour. The cry of the newborn was torturous to her that she left the child to be cared by relatives to continue her work in the theatre! And that is when she had that catatonic episode!
Alma behaves in a way unbecoming of a person of the medical profession. She physically abuses Elizabeth. Looks like that they had switched roles - the healer and the patient!
In the next scene, Alma leaves the retreat alone with her luggage on a bus. The camera rolls on towards the ground. We are left to wonder whether the nurse buried her patient!
This film is full of symbolism. It is supposed to show the eternal conflict that broils within an individual. It is something like the constant fight between Id, Ego and Super-Ego or the battle between the conscious and sub-conscious! Alma and Elizabeth are one and the same individual. Elizabeth is internal core of a person and Alma signifies the external appearance (persona) of a person that always changes and this film is a study of introspection of one's self!
If it sounds very complicated, you should watch it and draw your conclusion.
A highly complex film which showcases the human emotions in a rather abstract manner. Viewers of left to interpret the story in their own way.
It starts with Elizabeth, a famous theatre actress who is brought in to the psychiatric ward after she just went blank during a performance and just refused to speak afterwards. Sister Alma is assigned by the psychiatrist to get close to her and tries to get to the root of her problem. All the while, Elizabeth does not talk, refuses to talk when spoken to. She does her own things, she reads, watches TV etcetera. She is visibly shaken by violence shown on TV - self immolation of a monk in Vietnam, pictures of Auschwitz. In the meanwhile, Sr Alma seem to be talking all the time revealing a lot about herself. She is engaged to be married soon to a doctor. Secretly, in her bed, Alma is grateful with her life, apparently complete and soon to have a few kids. Within the next second, she questions herself whether that is what she really wants.
One day, Elizabeth receives a letter with the picture of her son in it. She is disturbed and tears it away.
The psychiatrist in charge suggests a beach bungalow for Elizabeth's recovery. Sister Alma accompanies her there.
Things improve there. Elizabeth becomes more chirpy, they do things together and they get close. It is only Alma who speaks all the time whilst the patient remains mute. In an evening, after too much of drinks, Alma confides in non talking Elizabeth some of her inner secrets - her one time impulsive infidelity, her pregnancy and her clandestine termination of pregnancy. And Alma breaks down. Wait! It looks like the role had reversed; Alma the confused and Elizabeth the silent listener.
The next day, life goes on as if nothing happened. In fact, on the night previously, Elizabeth had broken her silence but Alma was too drunk to appreciate. Elizabeth passed some letters for Alma to post. Unable to resist her temptation, Alma sneaks into an unsealed letter to find a letter to her doctor telling about Alma's health condition instead. Realizing and angry that she is being psychoanalyzed, a cat and mouse game starts. Alma tries to hurt Elizabeth and abhors her silence.Then, in the next bizarre scene (dream scene?), somebody calls for Elizabeth. It is supposed to be Elizabeth's husband and he starts talking to Alma and becomes quite passionate with her right in front of Elizabeth!
Alma behaves in a way unbecoming of a person of the medical profession. She physically abuses Elizabeth. Looks like that they had switched roles - the healer and the patient!
In the next scene, Alma leaves the retreat alone with her luggage on a bus. The camera rolls on towards the ground. We are left to wonder whether the nurse buried her patient!
This film is full of symbolism. It is supposed to show the eternal conflict that broils within an individual. It is something like the constant fight between Id, Ego and Super-Ego or the battle between the conscious and sub-conscious! Alma and Elizabeth are one and the same individual. Elizabeth is internal core of a person and Alma signifies the external appearance (persona) of a person that always changes and this film is a study of introspection of one's self!
If it sounds very complicated, you should watch it and draw your conclusion.
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