Persona (1966)

Persona (1966), one of those few movies in which I'm not sure I understood the full complexity of the film. The other movie is Mulholland Drive (2001). At the same time maybe I understood it fully, this is one of those timeless bodies of work that I may have to watch ten years from now just to be sure. Movies like Persona consist of dream sequences which make it hard to detect if we are still in dream state or not. It all starts when Elisabeth Vogler (Liv Ullmann) has a breakdown on the set of her film, she then stays at her doctor's home by the sea. Anna (Bibi Andersson) is the nurse who looks after her. When people say "they just don't make movies like that anymore." In regards to this movie that actually may be true. The vision in which Ingmar Bergman had for this film is really different than what most people are used to seeing. The movie starts with how we used to watch film, the light starting, and then the reel rolling. The movie ends the same way but the light is going out, and midway through the screen seemingly splits in half.  In which the movie is shaking things up. Who is really studying who here? Is Anna really in control, or is it Elisabeth? Or are the two of them actually one person, as the film begins to imply. Anna and Elisabeth, look strikingly similar which I would assume was done purposely for that reason.  Despite the identity crisis there are really some beautiful shots and scenes. My favorite scene by far is when Anna begins to retell a moment in her life in which she fornicated with a young boy and her friend. What made the scene so breath taking was the camera work and the detail in which it was told. The moment felt very intimate, like she was sharing something with us that was so personal. The detail in which the story was told allowed us to visualize everything, making us feel as if we were there. If a flashback was used I promise you the scene would not have been as good. Sometimes an audience using their imagination is better.  The two characters are so dynamic,  they dominate the screen and you barley notice it.  When two characters have that many layers the dissection between these two women is all we need to stay interested along with a little suspense.  Lastly the movie cover basically symbolizes the whole film. We have two complex puzzle pieces, and as time goes on the two separate pieces become one.