Persona (1966)
Sister Alma:
No! I'm not like you. I don't feel like you. I'm Sister Alma, I'm just here to help you. I'm not Elisabet Vogler. You are Elisabet Vogler.
Persona. Hmmm. It starts off with a montage of a movie projector firing up, a few quick cuts of stuff, a bon... Ah, nevermind, Anyway, what you are about to see is a FILM.
Alma is a nurse. She is tasked with watching over Elisabet at the summer home of Elizabets' Dr.. Elisabet was an actress but had some kind of breakdown on stage and is now mute. So the entire movie is Alma talking to Elisabet. Telling her all her secrets, rummaging around in her past until Elizabet does something that sets Alma off. So that's the plot.
I mean, really, how does someone filter through everything Bergman throws at you in one viewing and come away with anything more than a surface level understanding. I have my thoughts but they could change the next time I watch it or they could be reinforced. I rarely do this before writing up a little something about a movie but I looked up some WTF is Persona about articles. Every one of them had a different take and almost every one I was kind of like, yep, I can see that. So if all these scholars, people who study film for a living, can't figure it out wtf am I going to do with it?
This is only the third film from Bergman that I've seen. It's not my fav (The Virgin Spring) but it's not my least fav. One thing I'm getting used to with Bergman films is that his films are going to look spectacular. Framing a shot, what to put in the shot it's all perfect. I liked that he used a lot of close ups. And not just close ups, this isn't just a big face on the screen but SHOTS. And lots of them. Few movies utilize close ups this well. Right now the only ones coming to mind are Repulsion and The Passion of Joan of Ark and Bergmans are better. You have a character that doesn't say anything so how do you convey anything? Expressions. Both actresses were very good. I think Alma does more of the heavy lifting, obviously - she talks, but if it was all bouncing off a mannequin it wouldn't work. If you want to say it's the other way around I wouldn't argue, much. Bergman also throws a bunch of what I guess would be pretty experimental ideas for the time on screen and they all work. You can see the influence this film has had on a lot of directors.
I don't know what else to say. I really enjoyed it. Maybe not the right word but it was very good. Paused it for a break (those damn enchiladas!... (just kidding)) and was like, holy sheet, there's only 15 minutes left? It flew by. The first Bergman I ever watched was The Seventh Seal. Probably not the best one to start with so maybe it's time to revisit that one after getting a couple more under my belt. Gonna be a logjam at the top of my ballot.