Persona - Ingmar Bergman

One of the greatest films by one of the greatest directors ever, this is a landmark film. I have seen it many times and with each viewing, it reveals so much more to me! It is perhaps the most experimental film Bergman ever made.

Here are a few notes I made on the film. Would welcome your view about the film!

Name - Persona

Director - Ingmar Bergman

Story - Ingmar Bergman

Cinematography - Sven Nykvist

Starring - Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann

• The 1^st few images are that of a film rolling. Somewhat suggesting to itself.
• The scene of the goat being slaughtered is shot is high key. An outdoor shot probably with lots of bright light. The shot of a man (Jesus?) being crucified is shot indoor and low key creating lots of shadows.
• Both the cases use telephoto lens. Close-up shots and the background is out of focus.
• There is a blank shot for a moment and then there are shots of trees in a wood, shown in deep focus. That is followed by a shot of an iron fence. Parallel lines are what stand out in both the shots.
• Next is an extreme close-up shot of a woman’s lips, followed by several close-ups of peoples’ body parts. All apparently dead, in a morgue. White background. Once again, geometric patterns are made by the body of the people.
• A boy starts reading a book. There is a sound if dripping water from the beginning of the morgue shot. Still continues. The boy suddenly becomes aware of something and stretches his hands to touch it. He touches the camera lens as if breaking the 4^th wall. Then the shot cuts in to showing the boy touching what appears to be a larger than life, out of focus, woman’s face. The face seems to be shifting, changing. Establishes the motif with the water and the core of the film at the beginning.
• When the doctor is briefing the nurse, Alma, Alma is shown in long shot 1^st, then medium shot and then is close-up. This gets the viewer more attached to her, as if we are moving closer to her. The scene changes. Now Alma is shot from behind and we can see the doctor, but it’s shot using a telephoto lens with Alma in focus. Thus, the doctor is still out of focus and we see only Alma’s back. Accentuates the fact that even though the doctor is superior in the hospital, Alma is our centre of attention.
• The scene when Alma enters Vogler’s room and introduces herself is shot using a wide angle lens. Thus we see the whole body of Vogler. The scene creates a lot of depth, suggesting that although the nurse and the patient are not far in space, there is a lot of distance psychologically.
• Then suddenly it changes into a medium shot with telephoto lens when Alma bends closer to Vogler and she turns her head. The room is high key lit and creates very little shadow.
• The next time Alma is in Vogler’s room, the lighting is very low key. The characters are all in shadows. Also, he uses only telephoto lens to shoot them. Creates an intimate relation with the characters.
• At night, Alma does a character aside before going to sleep by talking directly to the audience. Then we see Elisabeth pacing about in her room. She is watching TV. A shot reverse shot shows her reaction to the news on the TV about the Vietnam war. She is shocked and can’t take it. She is shot in close-up to show her emotions. The lighting is again low key. It’s night. Also, she moves to the corner of the room while watching it. As if she is literally cornered by all the atrocities.
• Next is the scene where Alma is reading the letter to Vogler. It starts with a close up of the hands exchanging the letter and the camera settles on a medium shot of Alma reading it. It’s a long take (more than 2 minutes) with no camera movement. There is also very little ‘action’ in the scene. Alma just reads the letter. Then suddenly at a point Vogler snatches the letter. Vogler is also shot is medium shot.
• Next is when the doctor talks to Elisabeth. Here, Elisabeth Vogler is framed in a medium shot with the doctor standing behind her. We just see the doctor’s hands. The camera remains steady on Elisabeth while the doctor is talking. Here again, as a thematic motif, the person talking is not shown, rather the person who is being talked to is in the frame.
• “Your hideout isn’t watertight. Life seeps in everything”. Great line!
• Bergman loves long takes. He doesn’t rush through shots unless absolutely necessary. He likes to give the viewer enough time to savour the beauty of each frame. Camera movement is as little as possible.
• The shot where Alma is reading a part from a book to Elisabeth is accompanied with abstract visuals of a beach. Rocky beach with white rocks. Perhaps referring to the images conjured in the mind when listening to the prose. But whose mind?
• These are the 1^st few shots showing the bond being formed between the two women. All of these have water in some form. The mushroom cutting scene has sea in the background, the book reading scene is at a beach with the sound of seagulls audible, the next scene where Alma tells Elisabeth about her fiancé is shot inside a room with a large window in the background. Rain is falling outside and the sea is also visible.
• The shot where Alma is telling about her sexual orgy with a couple of stranger boys in the beach is shot in a full shot with both Alma and Elisabeth in the frame.
• Another very interesting scene when Alma and Elisabeth are sitting at the table and Alma is talking about how she thinks they are similar. The whole shot is one long take. The one scene where Elisabeth appears to whisper to Alma is an enigma. Alma was with her head down at the table and she was quite drunk, the camera was behind Elisabeth. So, we will never know if Elisabeth really said that or if it was Alma’s imagination!
• A beautiful shot when Alma reads Elisabeth’s letter. Alma is standing by a small lake or pond. She is feeling betrayed by Elisabeth. It’s a long shot with Alma and her reflection in the water visible. She appears to be looking at the reflection and thinking. Once again, water in an emotionally charged scene. Part of the motif.
• When Alma breaks the glass and sweeps it, the whole thing is shot in a long shot. Somewhat detaching the viewer from the scene. In sharp contrast to the earlier scenes of interaction between the characters which were all in close-up or medium close-up.
• When Alma leaves a piece of glass on the ground intentionally and Elisabeth cuts herself on it, the scene shifts suddenly into another series of abstract images, mostly in close-up and tight close-up accompanied with disturbing sounds. It marks the change in the chemistry between Alma and Elisabeth and in some ways the way they treat each other.
• When Alma fights with Elisabeth and then runs after her in the beach, asking for forgiveness, the scene ends with Alma crying on the beach and then it fades into the next scene of Alma sitting calmly and Elisabeth pacing inside a room. The roles are reversed.
• Next, a few cut backs show Elisabeth’s anxiety and Alma’s calmness. It is as if Elisabeth has suddenly become worried about Alma while Alma has given up on Elisabeth, or perhaps herself!
• Interesting. When Elisabeth is looking at the picture of a kid with his hands up in the air, the background music is very similar to the ‘Joker theme’ from The Dark Knight. Did the music director get inspired by this piece in Persona?
• In the end when Mr. Vogler comes and talks to Alma as if she is Elisabeth and Alma responds. Here, Alma breaks down after a while. She says things which suggest that she is indeed Elisabeth and she is repenting. It is as if Alma is the part of Elisabeth which she has to hide. Which she cannot bring out in public. So, Alma does that. Here it is established clearly that Alma and Elisabeth are one and the same person.
• When Elisabeth and Alma are again talking about Elisabeth’s baby, the camera is on Elisabeth while Alma is talking. Another visual motif in the film.
• Next, the same scene starts all over again. This time, the camera show’s Alma while she is talking. It symbolizes the importance Alma holds. No longer is the rule applicable. Now, Alma has equal importance as Elisabeth does. Perhaps because they are the same person.
• It is a deep focus scene.
• The scene starts with a two shot, showing Elisabeth’s back and Alma’s face. Then it becomes a medium shot of Alma alone and then it goes into a close-up of Alma. Once again, giving more and more importance to Alma.
• Towards the end, there is a shot of the movie camera shooting as well. Self reference, like a French New Wave cinema.
• The film ends the same way as it started, with the image of a film reel finishing in the spool and the projector light going out. Self reference again.