Persona (1966)

Persona is one of those movies where if I had to rank the difficulty level for film criticism/appreciation as Easy, Medium, Hard, or Expert, it lands in Expert. Every review and essay I've read since watching it a couple nights ago have very different interpretations of what it's truly about, still feeling confused about the film themselves, but all praise it highly because even though watching Persona is a confusing experience, you still feel like you're in trustworthy hands with Bergman's direction. However, being the gamer that I am, I'm drawn to the challenge of drumming up my own interpretation of the film.

I believe Persona is about how we project ourselves onto things, particularly art and artists, to find meaning. Near the beginning of the film, Sister Alma says to Elizabet, an actress one could say is on medical leave, "I have tremendous admiration for artists. I think art is enormously important in life, especially for those struggling for one reason or another." Near the end of the film, after Alma struggles with the fact that Elizabet isn't speaking to her or reciprocating the same energy that Alma puts out, Alma tells Elizabet, "You can't know how I feel. I always thought great artists felt this great compassion for other people, that they created art out of great compassion and a need to help. That was silly of me."

I think Bergman triples down on this idea in the opening, middle, and ending sequences where the movie reminds you that you're watching a movie. The opening sequence has visible film strips and clips of other movies, the middle sequence starts with the film tearing up then coming back similar to the opening sequence, and the ending sequence of the film reportedly has Ingmar Bergman himself next to his cinematographer on a crane as the turn the camera towards the viewer and you see the reflection of an actress from the glass filter in the camera's matte box. As someone who believes you can tell a lot about a person by how they engage in art and what their favorite movies are, I see this as Bergman studying the viewer, seeing how they perceive Persona and what our reactions tell him about ourselves.

Of course, this interpretation is paradoxical. I still projected myself onto the art to find the meaning, and I engaged in a way that looked past feeling empathy for any of the on-screen characters and instead with the artist. I will note, though, that I wasn't sure what to make of Persona when the credits rolled, but once this interpretation formed itself in my mind, it was a Eureka moment that had me absolutely loving this film.

5/5