Its greatness comes in part from the fact that so many different viewers can find so many different interpretations and meanings within it. At the end of the day this film (as is the case with all art, really) is about the merging of what YOU the viewer find within it with the intentions of the artist. When asked about the meaning of the prologue and the film in general, Bergman himself said that he would never dictate meaning to the viewer, but that he preferred to put his work out there and let others find meaning in it. I've also read many critical reviews that attempt to describe the prologue sequence as well as later scenes that echo back to it. Since this first watch, I purchased the Criterion Collection version of the film and have watched interviews with Bergman and the actresses in the film. But, on a first watch of the film, it is very difficult to place and interpret. It has become one of the legendary sequences in cinema, and it points to Bergman's unquestionable genius. A young nurse named Alma (Bibi Andersson) is tasked with caring for her as she is brought back to health.īefore the film proper even begins, however, we're given a prologue that is rather difficult to describe. The film focuses on an actress named Elisabet Vogler (Liv Ullmann) who has suddenly become mute. In any case, I landed on Persona and thus began one of my great cinematic experiences right in my own living room. I choose to believe that there is design even in small things such as this. As the evening wore on, I realized that I just needed to watch a film and set aside all this personal pondering that had me in a cloud of gloom. I had been wanting to explore more of Ingmar Bergman's filmography ever since I discovered The Seventh Seal - what is now one of my all-time favorite films. If so, who were you? In some ways, we all seem to have many "self's" - or maybe you prefer to say "personalities." Or maybe, the better term to use would be "personas." One of the ways we often describe these moods is by saying - "I just wasn't myself." My wife could surely tell that something was amiss. But rest assured that it sent me into an even deeper malaise that evening.
If that paragraph sent you into a brief malaise, first of all, thanks for continuing to read. Am I a better person? Am I worse? Why do I so often find myself recharging through solitude and seclusion rather than through engagement with other people, as I used to? Is my newfound introversion something to celebrate, or have I neglected relationships? Surely I am a different person in some ways, in other ways I'm the same. Why is my personality so much different than who I was in college? I almost feel like a completely different person than I was just a few short years ago. I was having one of those days where I struggled with a lot of self-doubt. My initial viewing of Persona was just such an occasion. Sometimes, a film speaks so perceptibly into my current life situation or mental condition that it reaches somewhere deep inside me, even to my very soul.
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