Saturday, June 24, 2006
Netflix
I'd seen all the Bergmans available at Netflix as of six months ago, and began going through an Existentialist withdrawal. What better fix than Persona, with the most ethically challenged psychiatric nurse in cinematic history? Bibi and Liv stride around rocky Scandinavian coastline in gorgeous black and white, Ingmar drops disturbing avant-garde camera tricks and montage bits into the mix, and no one lives happier ever after. Absolutely shattering, even on a third viewing.
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3 comments:
I love it. It's beautifully horrible. The broken glass scene, the bizarre opening montage, the wonderful monologue of the psychoanalyst--great stuff.
Bibi's monologue about the boys on the beach is amazing. If you ever run across John Simon's book about Bergman, he devotes a great deal of quality space to "Persona."
There are good extras on the Criterion DVD--interviews with Bibi and Liv, and an old interview with Ingmar himself, talking about a sort of nervous breakdown that inspired the film.
The interviewer asks Bibi what she thinks the film means. She's honest, and says basically "I don't know."
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