Persona

Director: Ingmar Bergman

17 December 2023

See

Him: Alma (Bibi Andersson) is a nurse assigned to the convalescence of Elisabet Vogler (Liv Ullmann) an actress who has gone selectively mute. 

Think

Him: This must be the most abstract of Bergman’s fulmns, but up there with Wilf Strawberries and The Seventh Seal in its acclaim (although Scenes from a Marriage is still my favourite with its depth, as it was a precursor to the TV miniseries). The fractured sense of self both women feelmerging into one is poignant with the shot of each half of their face framing the whole. It’s also interesting to note that after filming Bergman and Andersson’s romantic relationship ended and his and Ullmann’s began.

Feel

Him: Andersson’s monologue is the most erotic scene I’ve ever heard that proved tell, don’t show can be just as vivid. I understand Alma’s frustration at Elisabet’s silence when she gives so much of herself. Such restraint in Ullman’s performance. She’d make an excellent interviewer.