Persona (1966)

Any sense of a conventional psychodrama is constantly disrupted by the experimental, improvisatory filmmaking.

Ingmar Bergman’s Persona can be seen as the apex of his cinematic career – at one point in the film, even the celluloid itself appears to burn up in the projector, as if there was nowhere further to go. Like his Italian counterpart Fellini, Bergman achieved fame in European art cinema in the 1950s and early 60s but unexpectedly made his masterpiece out of a creative crisis. After the collapse of a project focusing on two actresses, Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann (who both had intimate relationships with the director), Bergman spent time in hospital, where he came up with a fresh idea. Struck by the women’s physical likeness, he planned to explore questions of identity through the encounter between a great stage actress (Ullmann) who has inexplicably fallen silent and the insecure, garrulous nurse (Andersson) assigned to look after her. Secluded on the barren island of Fårö (which became Bergman’s favourite location and main home), the protagonists – both brilliantly played – engage in a battle of wills, their divergent attitudes towards sex and motherhood merging in disturbing ways. The erotic intensity and rawness of Persona was challenging in 1966, and remains so – few film ‘classics’ still feel so modern.

Any sense of a conventional psychodrama is constantly disrupted by the experimental, improvisatory nature of the filmmaking. Bergman begins the film with a violent, fractured opening montage illustrating the nature of cinema itself and keeps ratcheting up the ambiguities by blurring realism and fantasy. Self-reflexivity never seemed so seductive, as the film freely plays with ideas of public masks and inner secrets, vampirism physical and metaphysical, and the fine line between screen performance and real lives.

Persona has virtually defined the outer reaches of subsequent ‘art’ cinema, influencing visionary directors from Robert Altman and Nicolas Roeg to David Lynch and Olivier Assayas. Its iconography has become pervasive – Andersson’s cool blackrimmed sunglasses, the haunting images of the two women facing the camera, all beautifully rendered in the velvety monochrome photography of Sven Nykvist. The film’s overtly Jungian aspects and slippery narrative have provoked many questions and debates; Bergman gave little away, preferring audiences to draw their own conclusions. He followed Persona with some great films, but nothing quite as audacious.

David Thompson

1966 Sweden
Directed by
Ingmar Bergman
Written by
Ingmar Bergman
Featuring
Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margareta Krook
Running time
81 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Persona

Critics

Mo Abdi
Iran/UK
Saleem Albeik
Palestine/France
Nirit Anderman
Israel
Geoff Andrew
UK
João Antunes
Portugal
César Ballester
Spain/UK
Juan Barquin
USA
John Baxter
Australia
João Pedro Bénard
Portugal
Annie Berke
USA
Stuart Brown
UK
Edwin Carels
Belgium
Sehad Čekić
Montenegro
Erdem Murat Çelikler
Turkey
Graiwoot CHULPHONGSATHORN
Thailand
Michel Ciment
France
Renata Clark
Czech Republic
Barbara Creed
Australia
Miguel Dias
Portugal
Wheeler Winston Dixon
USA
Nenad Dukić
Serbia
Cristóbal Escobar
Chile
Jean-Michel Frodon
France
Alfonso Garcia Calvo
Spain
Lisa Gotto
Austria
Jamie Graham
UK
Tim Grierson
USA
Roman Gutek
Poland
Hauvick Habéchian
Lebanon
Molly Haskell
USA
Barrett Hodsdon
Australia
Sean Hogan
UK
Adam Hyman
USA
Eulàlia Iglesias Huix
Spain
Javier Ikaz
Spain
Nachman Ingber
Israel
Sten Kauber
Estonia
Jack King
UK
András Bálint Kovács
Hungary
Isaac León-Frías
Peru
Joachim Lepastier
France
Anke Leweke
Germany
Guy Lodge
UK/South Africa
João Lopes
Portugal
Geoffrey Macnab
UK
Mike Maggiore
USA
Roberto Manassero
Italy
Camilla Markvardsen
Denmark/UK
Miguel Angel Martín Maestro
Spain
Andro Martinovic
Montenegro
Demetrios Matheou
UK
Neil McGlone
UK
Ruby McGuigan
UK
Jamie McLeish
UK
Karsten Meinich
Norway
Petar Milat
Croatia
Ben Mitchell
UK
Andrew Mohsen
Egypt
Iana Murray
UK/Philippines
Marko Njegić
Croatia
Markus Nornes
USA
Camille Paglia
USA
Olivier Père
France
Xavier Pérez
Spain
Agnes Petho
Hungary/Romania
Sven Pötting
Germany
Tim Robey
UK
Arjun Sajip
UK
James Schamus
USA
Paulo Henrique Silva
Brazil
Christina Stojanova
Bulgaria/Canada
José Teodoro
Canada
David Thompson
UK
Yann Tobin aka N.T.BINH
France
Tricia Tuttle
UK
Wim Vanacker
Belgium

Directors

Amjad Abu Alala
Sudan
Ari Aster
USA
Lila Avilés
Mexico
Richard Ayoade
UK
Margot Benacerraf
Venezuela
Fyzal Boulifa
UK
Lucy Cohen
UK
Robert Eggers
USA
Atom Egoyan
Canada
Ingemo Engström
Germany
Romain Gavras
France
Rose Glass
UK
Mani Haghighi
Iran
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Mexico
Mark Jenkin
UK
Dea Kulumbegashvili
Georgia
Jackie Lentzou
Greece
Milcho Manchevski
Macedonia
Manuela Martelli
Chile
Philippe Mora
Australia
Georgia Oakley
Sir Horace Ové
UK
Asli Özge
Turkey
John Paizs
Canada
Timothy Quay
USA
Lynne Ramsay
UK
Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Thailand
Aaron Schimberg
USA
Paul Schrader
US
Ben Sharrock
UK
Maryam Touzani
Morocco
Joachim Trier
Norway
Eskil Vogt
Norway

Articles related to Persona

The Greatest Films of All Time

The Greatest Films of All Time

The Greatest Films of All Time
The Greatest Films of All Time

Directors’ 100 Greatest Films of All Time

Directors’ 100 Greatest Films of All Time
Where to begin

Where to begin with Liv Ullmann

By Alex Barrett

Where to begin with Liv Ullmann
Load more

Subscribe to BFI Player to access more films like this

Start with a 14-day free trial then only £4.99 a month - cancel any time.

Explore subscription on BFI Player