Persona

Year 13, Day 13 - 1/13/21 - Movie #3,714

BEFORE: Moving on to Bergman Film #4 - I'll be almost halfway through after this one, and if I can double up again tomorrow, then I'll be 2/3 of the way through. I'm sort of jam-packing the week this way, and I hope I don't use up so many slots that I'll be bored in November with no movies to watch, but I want to take advantage of the fact that this film (along with several other Bergman films) is now available on HBO Max, I don't have to wait for TCM to run more Bergman films later on - strike while the iron is hot!

Gunnar Björnstrand carries over from "Through a Glass Darkly" - I think he's the only actor to be in all four Bergman films so far in the chain.

THE PLOT: A nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together. 

AFTER: I'm always afraid when I see a tagline like this one - is this going to be another film like "Lost Highway" or "Mulholland Drive" where one character becomes another one, or two actresses swap roles suddenly?  (Actually, that's not exactly what happens in either of those films, I think my brain just simplifies those plots because they're so enigmatic...)  It's also very possible that Lynch borrowed or stole some narrative techniques from Bergman, if what's happening here in "Persona" is what I think it is.  

Honestly, though, I'm not sure WHAT exactly happens in the final third of "Persona".  A lot does happen, I suppose, but none of it makes much sense.  The opening is very surrealistic, calling to mind the old techniques of Bunuel, as seen in "Le Chien Andalou", or the film equivalent of a Dali painting.  Bergman apparently went through his "artsy" phase and tried to get all deep and complicated, but to me, just showing mages of a lamb being butchered, a close-up on a hand as a man is being crucified, then shots of dead bodies in a morgue isn't really "high art", it's just random weirdness.  

But all that somehow leads in to the main story here - which is about Elisabet, an actress who had some kind of breakdown while performing on stage, and is now mute as a result, and Alma, the nurse who is assigned to take care of her.  While in the hospital Elisabet watches, on television, a man set himself on fire during the Vietnam War, and this affects her - as does a letter from her husband that contains a photo of their son.  Alma reads the letter aloud, and Elisabet does not react well.  So the doctor sends the two women to a cottage by the sea (it's Faro Island again, Bergman's favorite shooting location...)

At the cottage, Alma talks, and talks and talks, while Elisabet listens.  What else would a mute woman do?  All of Alma's backstory comes out, her first love, an affair with two young boys, a pregnancy and an abortion.  While driving to town, Alma also reads Elisabet's unsealed mail, and she learns that Elisabet is studying her for some reason.  Well, that's what actresses do, they study people because anything they learn could come in handy for a later role, right?  No big deal.  But Alma feels used, and threatens Elisabet with a pot of boiling water, which causes Elisabet to (finally) speak.  The two women fight, Alma begs for forgiveness, and then Elisabeth looks at photos of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, for some reason.

Eventually Elisabet's husband shows up, and because he's blind (and Elisabet is mute, or self-imposed mute, whichever), Alma speaks for Elisabet, the husband mistakes one for the other, and ends up having sex with Alma instead of his wife. (Umm, I think?)  Then a bunch of other weird stuff happens, like Alma sort of figures out why Elisabet tore up that photo of her son, and Alma scratches herself on the arm and draws blood, and makes Elisabet drink it?  But I'm sorry, I didn't see how their personalities were merging in any way, unless I missed something - so I'm still very confused over what really happened here.  

Here's what I suspect, though - Bergman had some kind of relationship with Bibi Andersson, and according to Wikipedia, he bumped into her on the street when she was with her friend, Liv Ullmann.  Bergman thought the two women looked very similar - but I disagree, I don't think they look alike at all, except they're both blonde Swedish women.  I think he was attracted to Ullmann, and wanted to be with both women, either together or separately, and casting them in the same movie was a way to bring that about.  Or he'd get to sleep with at least one of them, again or for the first time.  

But I didn't pick up on "one personality consuming the other" or "the fusing of two personalities into one", this must be largely open to interpretation.  The general interpretation of this film is that it seems to be about "duality", but I'm not so sure - are Alma and Elisabet supposed to be the opposite sides of - something?  Or does their resemblance (again, I don't see it) mean that they are collectively just one entity, or two parts of one entity?  I prefer the Carl Jung theory of "persona" (thanks again, Wiki) which treats the word as if it's a synonym for "mask", that we all have a face that we show to the world, which is separate from the internal soul.  Think of the Roman God Janus, who had two faces (and what's the name of the first production company credit we see on screen?  Janus Films!)  And who wears masks?  Actors and actresses, especially in the older productions, like Greek plays.  Elisabet had her breakdown while acting in "Electra", which is a Greek drama.  See?  This makes so much more sense. 

I think this is also one of those films that people like to reference to sound smart, or to appear to be a big film expert.  People who SAY that this is their favorite film are just doing it for the effect. It's like a classic rock fan saying that Steely Dan is his favorite band - he just doesn't want to admit it's The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, because then he'd just be perceived as common.  

"Persona" is on that list of the "1,001 Movies to See Before You Die", and by the time I get to the end of the Bergman chain, I'll have seen 437 of those movies.  Not too shabby - I think I'll be at 438 by the end of January, but no immediate plans to cross any other films off.  I guess maybe I'll have to watch the other 562 after I die?  But as for "Persona", I think I side with the reviewers who have called it one of "the most pretentious movies of all time".  Sorry.  

Also starring Bibi Andersson (last seen in "Wild Strawberries"), Liv Ullmann (last seen in "A Bridge Too Far"), Margaretha Krook, Jörgen Lindström. 

RATING: 3 out of 10 beach chairs