Ingmar Bergman's Persona -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 111)

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Disclaimer: All reasonable comments are welcome, including reasoned disagreements. You will be banned for foolish talk, harassment, and hate speech on sight; it's a tremendous waste of life. I believe in freedom of association and, by extension, freedom of dissociation from you.

[@embryoroom]

Mulholland Drive owes Persona a great deal.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

yes!

[@lorenzgoller1794]

Basically it is the movie 2.0.

[@MarinaAndTheDevil]

Both masterpieces

[@user-if7fo6dz3b]

Interesting interpretation. Regarding the boy in the beginning of the movie, I think it could also be connected to the fact that central crisis in Elisabeth Vogler, the actress , stems from her relationship with her son and reportedly the son loves her.

[@mrrrl795]

It is truly a masterpiece. You can see how it influenced a film like Fight Club.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

What a strange pair!

[@greghuffman3061]

i am Jack's inspiration

[@whybegin1285]

I find Persona to be pretty straightforwardly 2 parts of the same person, the inner and outer self. The beginning montage examines how film can be used to explore the self and not just world around us, setting us up for how the rest of the movie will be a self-reflection for viewers to partake in.

[@whybegin1285]

Also I think it’s my favorite movie ever now haha

[@LeanBuka1]

For those who maybe wonder, "Alma" in spanish means "soul".

[@calebroberts811]

Great video. I was struck by the scene shown at 11:10 - they’re overlapping, both in black, as Alma is confiding a deeply personal experience. But as her account varies between her private experience and the generic human condition, she turns slightly to reveal her white blouse which briefly distinguishes her from Elizabet. As if to show how arbitrary such distinctions between “private” and “public” experience really are. It asks whether we all are ultimately interchangeable because the self is constructed.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

great comment, thank you.

[@adamv4951]

I feel better now having viewed this over 50 times over the years and not being able to come to a conclusion.

[@Maxi.Dounut]

We saw this movie in a photagraphy class I once attended, because our teacher said that you can pause almost every scene in this movie and get a perfect picture.

[@dubbelhenke854]

Good point. Yes the photography is astounding!

[@dubbelhenke854]

When I first saw it I gasped. I could have sat for 5 hours. One of the very very great movies.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@MBAinternetmktg]

Something about Bergman's films, I could watch for hours, too. There are plenty of b&w films, but there is a mesmerizing quality to Bergman's films. The story is often slow, but the camera focus is so interesting that you don't get bored.

[@dubbelhenke854]

The second time I watched it I was completely blown away. One of the greatest movies of all time.

[@w.iraheta3769]

Great video. This is in my top 100 favorite films. It left big impact on my film journey over the years. Changes your whole perspective as cinema as an art form.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thank you.

[@fredweisenmiller1328]

This is #29 on my top 50 movies. Just bought this the other day during The Barnes and Noble semi annual Criterion sale. What a classic!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Good buy!

[@argentumize9599]

helloooooo, im interested in your list of top movies, would you mind sharing some with me ?

[@markuss9229]

@@argentumize9599 I'm also interested.

[@CineShinya]

Very interesting interpretation. The antithesis in this film about the two opposite characters I think has its roots by the 2 ideas that lead Bergman to the scenario according himself. 1) Two women comparing hands 2) Two women. One is silent and the other talks non stop. Now, about the "male gaze" that was basically mentioned in this analysis, while Bergman has been surrounded by women but it's doubtful he understood them mostly because his personality itself doesn't really focus on emotional understanding as other more abstract aspects of personality, I would like to remind we are talking about a Swedish director. In northern Europe there is a huge cultural difference from America etc and I feel when we talk about the male gaze, we always connect it with sexualization of women and how they may appear more attractive, as there is a mention of that in the video too. However, as a European I know well the mentality is quite different. And especially in Northern Europe and specifically in Sweden, the gender roles don't have that gap. Also sexuality is something that pretty much stopped being a taboo quite early. So women talk about things like that isn't something that men just imagine. Especially for a country there were laws and care by the national mechanism even for unmarried mothers in 1950's not as something rare or shameful but as another part of the society. Even the dating culture in Nordic countries like "we first go to bed and then for coffee" isn't something rare. It has to do with physical connection that is not a taboo. And that is all. So...I think when we analyze films and bring up matters like that, we must do it through the prism of the country's culture as well.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@gambino6797]

thank you for this! you explained and analyzed it so well!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you. i really appreciate this.

[@carljcreighton]

i think the two faces becoming one is more about our perspective than who they are

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Yes, for sure. It could be either or both!

[@nuzza4432]

I also think the same Elisabeth lost her own self while playing the roles of others, its as if when someone tells you not to behave some kind of a way and you start to disolve and apart your persona, play someone else. we are always changing our masks but I still think it was Elisabeth who wanted to be Alma. Elisabeth lost her conscious and Alma is a caretaker like her subconscious part of persona who wants to bring her consciousness back. as if she is the cure for herself but in the end she stays what she says " nothing" total emptiness. she switches herself again and becomes empty . Alma could not win over her ,the cure did not work. and in the end only the mask is left on the screen, someone undefined.

[@ChrisPatton-qm2ep]

It is interesting to see this movie after seeing the contemporary films that it influenced like Fight Club, Mulholland Drive, and Black Swan multiple times. Great to see those same themes explored here without the flashiness of the newer films. Watched this and Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice for the first time this weekend, with Sven Nykvist doing the cinematography for both, I feel my eyes need to readjust from all the dark beauty :) Thanks very much for your insight into this and Tarkovsky’s work. Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence are next on my watch list.

[@MarinaAndTheDevil]

11:20 this shot in the movie scared me so much, because for a moment, I thought Elisabet was staring straight at the camera. The tension in this movie is otherworldly!

[@constancy999]

All those other films are essentially inspired from Persona. Mulholland Drive, Donnie Darko, Black Swan etc.

[@JLaSalle19]

In general i try not to do extra research on films that i watch as i think it might take away from my own intuition and feelings about the movie. Perhaps i should have though after seeing this movie for a 2nd time, as i still could not really grasp the hidden significances and nuances. This video helped bring a lot of the to light. I agree with your statement at the end about this movie not being as personally impactful for you as it is for others; this is certainly how i feel as it just didnt resonate with me as much as other films, particularly others of Bergman, himself. Thanks for the video!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thank you.

[@peteywheatstraws4909]

It's about the persona, the "mask" people put on for the public, and the shadow, who we really are, and why we are fearful of being judged for what we actually are. It is textbook Jungian philosophy, his "shadow" concept came out just prior to this film.

[@theunscripted643]

Persona is the masterpiece ♥️

[@alonsorojas7885]

My favorite film of all time! Thank u for the video

[@LearningaboutMovies]

you're welcome.

[@dubbelhenke854]

Mine also, second one is Les Enfants du paradis.

[@hadiputraw8083]

Best art movie

[@LearningaboutMovies]

a good one!

[@denvorsden7903]

I am an aspiring director from India and I loved your insights into this movie. Watched other videos in your channel too.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you and blessings to you.

[@kanhakun4323]

Hey I'm from india too. Do you use insta?

[@denvorsden7903]

@@kanhakun4323 Yes.

[@scasey1960]

“Even if you hate it, you have to deal with it” - can’t live with them, can’t live without them.

[@daviddelaney363]

Great review! I will plan to watch Persona at some point. Looking forward to more!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you

[@1chienandalou]

I think both persona and hour of the wolf (it’s contemporary as close as possible for Bergman) can both be seen as a sole character and “Alma” in both films can be a part of their self, not an actual separate character (whether nurse or doting wife of the tortured artist character)

[@dubbelhenke854]

I was truly disappointed in wolf, first time I saw it, but I like it much more today.

[@peteywheatstraws4909]

"Vargtimmen", Bergman's only surrealist film, was about Von Sydow's character coming to terms with being gay, and trapped in a heterosexual relationship, soon to be heavier and of longer in duration due to a child about to be born. Themes of dementia, mental illness, and vampirism are also present.

[@cruddddddddddddddd]

The Seventh Seal and Winter Light are perhaps my top two favorite films from any director, but definitely from Bergman. I think I feel the same way as you where Persona is concerned. It’s really good, but it doesn’t speak to me as much as the aforementioned films. That said, I’ve really enjoyed this look at Bergman films. The highlight of my day

[@cruddddddddddddddd]

@@vodkatonyq glad you enjoyed it lol

[@LearningaboutMovies]

try it again at some point; that's the way to deal with the "Great films." they might not be great, or if they truly are, they will reward you at some point in your life.

[@dubbelhenke854]

@@LearningaboutMovies As for Hour of the wolf - I couldn't take it first time. It took 3 times to realize how interesting it is.

[@redpenink12]

First time I saw this I didn’t even see the phallic image lol

[@morbusb4452]

I love your Channel, greetings from Poland.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you. God bless!

[@tomislavcehajic9642]

Persona +Vertigo =Mullholand drive

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Hadn't thought of it that way and yet it makes sense.

[@tomislavcehajic9642]

@@LearningaboutMovies Mulholland drive and Vertigo is in my top 10 best ever, Persona in top 50 i love some others movies of Bergman more, do review of La Notte one of my personal best

[@korita1989]

can you make a video where you compare persona and Cleo from 5 to 7? i have an exam and probably i will have to compare those to hollywood movies. I need to understand like 100% so i can translate it good to norwegian 😬😭

[@valeriaochoa1929]

Phenomenal review

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thank you

[@mimicrybypravesh]

Hi, what do you think of the Norwegian movie "The Wayward Girl" starring Liv Ullmann? I really think it's an underrated gem.

[@mac2phin]

Persona is closed-form cinema and thereby open to conjecture. It's Bergman's 8 1/2.

[@clumsydad7158]

A lot going on here ... in some ways I think this speaks more to our times or is more interesting now than when I first tried to watch it in the 90s, somehow it's not as old to my eyes now it appeared them, it seems fresher and newer. As in other Bergman movies, the therapist gives themselves therapy instead of the patient, but it becomes warped, and here a transference occurs. Dark themes of sexual confusion and frustration, and as in many Bergman movies, the question of masks, faces, and performing roles. But must be one the earliest films to more fully explore feminine issues, fears and anxieties. I'm pretty ignorant about feminist cinema. The presence of hallucinations and illusory dialogue. One of his densest movies of near continuous dialogue. As in The Silence, the boy in the movie is more or less abandoned for stretches by the mother. And I think now more than ever, as the world is sliding back into women being forced to be mothers and also bear the responsibility of child-rearing, a good look at the double pressures on women in their private and public lives. ... and well, certainly at one level, a basic level, we are all just different versions of each other. peace

[@SurajSingh-nf2er]

What do you think of the performances? Liv Ullmann as elisabet completely stole the show. What do you think?

[@LearningaboutMovies]

also love Bibi Andersson through Bergman's filmography.

[@SurajSingh-nf2er]

Yeah!! But i was talking about this particular movie.

[@leinerjesusdiaz8502]

This is a film that is the perfect example of good art and subjectivity. Another film that you should review that is in the same formula is "Last Year in Marienbad". I think that you should do a review about that movie too.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thank you. I have been getting requests for that one a lot, so I will try.

[@tomislavcehajic9642]

Liv Ullmann in this movie is without any word

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Yes, she is great from here through Sara and in Bergmans filmography.

[@robsavage3217]

I saw this movie for the first time a few months ago and I really loved it - though I don't claim to have any insights beyond the points in your video. I was moved by the evolving relationship between the women, irrespective of the film's deeper meaning. I was also taken with the cinematography and the movie's artistic creativity.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@Danish_Panja]

If both woman are just one person with two different personality than i have question ❓ if its true than the hospital scene doesn't make any sense, dr talking with the sister and other people asking for that actress how she is and sister reply fine that scene doesn't make any sense 😂

[@clumsydad7158]

for me it's not that they actually are the same person, but that often how lives could somehow be exchangable, mirror each other, the different parts of persona that each express, etc.

[@mac2phin]

Strindberg's The Stronger.

[@BadClamsVideos]

Persona feels more than a one trick pony, easy to imagine a number different aspects of it will keep it out of the dust bin. I do think it's overrated, but no more so than many other films that are clearly inspired by Bergman (I enjoy David lynch but everything of his overrated IMO). I do give credit to persona for feeling like one of the most accessible avant garde style movies out there. Maybe it's just the intro doing some level setting, short length, or sexuality of it all, but feels like it's one that captures attention even for those typically comfortable with just traditional story telling. I care for or am interested in the outcome of the nurse way more than I would expect. I dont think it is as interestingly profound as most critics seem to praise it as being, but major points for approachability.

[@markuss9229]

would you care to name a few of your favorite movies? I am a big fan of Lynch and I'm recently getting into Bergman's movies

[@greghuffman3061]

fursona

[@travisbickle3835]

the original, better Fight Club (and starring women!!)

[@sina8843]

I know why but i hate this movie From my prespective to make some one undrastand your creation isnt art , art is something that can and would be simply undrestood

[@LearningaboutMovies]

and yet if art is so complex that there are many understandings, those understandings have to be articulated, thus "explained."

[@raw5522]

What are you talking about? Are you american, yes...so i understand. All the best

[@LearningaboutMovies]

another Euro bigot. We'll use your standards to evaluate you. All the best