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Amazon.co.uk Review
Made in 1966, Persona is among Ingmar Bergman's greatest, most vital movies, made during a difficult period in his life (Bergman's life is one short on easy times), having been hospitalised following a viral infection. It was while laid up that he conceived the notion of Persona, in which a famous actress, Elisabet (Liv Ullmann) suddenly lapses into a muteness from which, though mentally and physically healthy, she refuses to emerge. She is attended to by a young, naive nurse, Alma (Bibi Andersson) who develops an obsession, bordering on infatuation with her silent charge. She finds herself jabbering all of her innermost secrets to her and, little by little, through dream sequences, repeated dialogue and trick photography, it's as if the consciousnesses of the two women have actually merged.
With its opening sequence of cryptic projected reel images (allusions to Bergman's previous work), jarringly atonal soundtrack and devices such as the audible chatter of camera crew, Persona contains an unusual share of avant-garde trimmings, which haven't necessarily stood the test of time. However, the relationship between Alma and Elisabet dominates the movie. Some confounded critics wondered if theirs was a lesbian relationship.
Actually, Persona is an occasionally cryptic but overwhelmingly powerful meditation on the parasitic interaction between Art and Life, the way the former feeds off the latter (Alma is distraught to discover a letter at one point which suggests Elisabet has been coolly observing her, as if for material). However, as an early scene featuring TV footage of a Vietnamese Buddhist monk torching himself as a protest against the war, it's also about the helpless incapacity of art to "say" anything in the face of grim reality. A small film budget-wise, but a colossal event in world cinema. --David Stubbs
Special Features
DVD 5
Swedish
Region 0
Dolby Digital Swedish
Dolby Digital
Star And Director Filmographies
Scene Selection
Original US Theatrical Trailer
Philip Strick Film Notes
Promotional Art Gallery
English
Swedish
Region 0
Dolby Digital Swedish
Dolby Digital
Star And Director Filmographies
Scene Selection
Original US Theatrical Trailer
Philip Strick Film Notes
Promotional Art Gallery
English
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Quite simply one of the most remarkable and intense films I have seen, with subject matter that is a milion miles from anything Hollywood can offer.
Nurse and patient, that is basically the premise of the story here but it is far more multi-layered and complex through the lens of Ingmar Bergman.
Eerie and somewhat desolate summer locations are mixed in with stark hospital scenes,camera trickery and dialogue. There are surreal episodes that are all essential to this tale of mental disintegration,possibly schizophrenia.
The leading ladies are typically Nordic,graceful,enchanting and attractive, which works as a camoflage for the unsettling subject matter.
Another masterpiece from scriptwriter/director Bergman.
Note: Package wise another great DVD from Tartan. The quality is good throughout and as usual Bergmans astonishing black and white images are faithfully restored.
Nurse and patient, that is basically the premise of the story here but it is far more multi-layered and complex through the lens of Ingmar Bergman.
Eerie and somewhat desolate summer locations are mixed in with stark hospital scenes,camera trickery and dialogue. There are surreal episodes that are all essential to this tale of mental disintegration,possibly schizophrenia.
The leading ladies are typically Nordic,graceful,enchanting and attractive, which works as a camoflage for the unsettling subject matter.
Another masterpiece from scriptwriter/director Bergman.
Note: Package wise another great DVD from Tartan. The quality is good throughout and as usual Bergmans astonishing black and white images are faithfully restored.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Although made in the mid-sixties, this film only dates in some of the somewhat jarring cinematic effects chosen by Bergman. However, this is also a mark of his work. The story is at once both simple and complex. Above all, the acting by Bibi Andersson as the young nurse adjacent to the cool and at times menacing silence of Elisabet played by Liv Ullman provides a powerful pair of performances.
Although this is a film for those interested in the work of Bergman, it also provides an interesting revelation of how an individual responds to a constant silence from their charge. The literature of negotiation tactics points to the power of silence to make an opponent uncomfortable and at the same time to seek confirmation of their position. Persona takes this to the extreme, where the nurse finds herself chattering away incessantly, whilst revealing ever deeper secrets about herself. She is as much revealing these to herself as to her charge Elisabet. Yet if you watch the film ask yourself who is really doing the revealing.
Well worth watching - it is understandable why this film stunned the critics at the time.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Many of Bergman's stylistic tricks, his alienation effects, and photo-montage techniques, look somewhat self-conscious by now. The script is also loaded with sixties Jungian psycho-babble. Despite all this I found the film to be overwhelming in its intensity, mainly because of the performance elicited from Bibi Anderson. Her vulnerability, her anguish, and the ultimate crumbling of her identity in the face of Liv Ullman's silence are quite breathtaking.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A remarkable, and remarkably challenging puzzle of a film
Originally some the earlier Bergman films harder for me to get into,
because most of the Bergman I saw first were from late in his career
and far more 'naturalistic' -... Read more
because most of the Bergman I saw first were from late in his career
and far more 'naturalistic' -... Read more
Published 1 month ago by K. Gordon
Bergman's 'Persona' (Tartan DVD)
I saw persona the first time about 10 years ago, and then I was very impressed by the montage style, the dark existentialism and the enigmatic ending. Read more
Published on 23 Dec 2009 by MarkusG
Experimental concision
This is the most experimental film Bergman made coming as it does at a radical time in the 60s when things were changing. Read more
Published on 22 May 2009 by technoguy
Troubling, abstract and essential.
One of Ingmar Bergman's most radical films, 'Persona' can be viewed as a journey in which personality, meaning and individuality blur between fantasy and reality. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2008 by Mark Hilton
Bergman's Dissonance
Because of its incongruous mixture of images, the opening montage of this film brings to mind the adagio introduction at the beginning of the first movement of Mozart's String... Read more
Published on 4 Dec 2007 by Alojz Kajinic
images are the most important
I remember to have read in the memoirs of a real English actress she suffered an episode of temporal loss of memory that remitted with a sedative without more complications. Read more
Published on 3 Aug 2006 by Carlos Vazquez Quintana
A stunning classic
Widely considered to be one of the best films ever made, Persona follows the developing relationship between two women: Elisabet Vogler, an actress who has chosen to stop speaking... Read more
Published on 17 April 2006 by David Welsh
ignore grey plover
The reviewer "greyplover" has written a very funny and direct so-called "review" of Persona. Having just watched it for the fourth time at the cinema and about to watch Woody Allen... Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2004 by degrant
Wonderful
This film is a cinematic tour de force, dominated by the imposing performances of Liv Ulman and Bibi Anderson, whose physical likeness weighs heavily on the film's signification. Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2003 by Petrides Antonis
Finally on DVD!
Many great words have been used describing this film. Definetely justified. It might very well be Bergmans materpiece, and THAT says a lot. Read more
Published on 8 May 2003 by "bjornam"
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