PERSONA (DVD/SPECIAL EDITION/P&S/1966/B&W/SWEDISH W/ENG-FR-SP-SUB) DVD

Persona
Persona is difficult to characterize in simple terms, but it may be helpful to describe this complex film as being an exploration of identity that combines elements of drama, visual poetry, and modern psychology. The central story revolves around a young nurse named Alma (Bibi Andersson) and her patient, a well-known actress named Elisabet Vogler (Liv Ullmann). Elisabet has stopped speaking, and the attending psychiatrist treats the actress by sending her to an isolated seaside cottage under Alma's care. There the nurse, who must do all the talking for both women, becomes a little enamored of the actress. One evening Alma tells Elisabet about some exhilarating sexual experiences she once had and their unpleasant aftermath. Soon after sharing this confidence, the nurse reads a letter Elisabet has written and is shocked to learn that the actress thinks of her as an amusing study. The relationship between the women becomes tense, and they wound each other. Then Alma has a long dream in which her identity merges with that of Elisabet, but when the nurse awakes, both women have apparently come to at least temporary terms with their psychological problems. ~ All Movie Guide

Cast Bibi Andersson as Nurse Alma Liv Ullmann as Actress Elisabeth Vogler Margareta Krook as doctor Gunnar Björnstrand as Mr. Vogler Jörgen Lindström as Elisabet's Young Son

Crew Mago - Costume Designer Ingmar Bergman - Director Ulla Ryghe - Editor Lars Johan Werle - Composer (Music Score) Tina Johansson - Makeup Borje Lundh - Makeup Bibi Lindstrom - Production Designer Sven Nykvist - Cinematographer Ingmar Bergman - Producer Lars-Owe Carlberg - Producer Evald Andersson - Special Effects Ingmar Bergman - Screenwriter

Persona
A watershed film in its economy, symbolism, and frank sexuality, Ingmar Bergman's Persona ranks as one of the director's most personal pieces, breaking from his earlier, more explicit work in favor of the abstract, intuitive style that he would continue to develop in such films as Hour of the Wolf (1968), Shame (1968), and Cries and Whispers (1973). Bergman started work on Persona after a long hospital stay, and he described the seemingly random images that begin the film as a "poem," a proclamation of his renewal as an artist. The opening sequence sets the tone for the film to come, in which the characters are at the mercy not just of fate and desire but of filmmaking itself. When Bibi Andersson's nurse Alma comes to the bedside of Liv Ullmann's Elizabet one night, the mere suggestion of their hallucinatory encounter is enough to shake the film off its sprockets -- the celluloid literally breaks and melts on screen, before our eyes. At no other time in his career had Bergman seemed more trusting of his performers; he purges Persona of any narrative conventions but its two characters and their seaside setting. The final shot pans around to expose the crew and equipment making the movie, a self-reflexive gesture, as in the later A Passion (1970), which suggests that not even filmmaking can completely dissect the mysteries of the human heart. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
 

National Board of Review, Best Foreign Film (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish Sound Processing: DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: cc Original, uncensored theatrical version Brand-new digital film transfer presented in the original aspect ratio (1.33:1) Original Swedish audio (mono); English audio (mono) English, French, and Spanish subtitles "A Poem in Images" featurette On-camera interviews with Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann Audio commentary by Ingmar Bergman biographer Marc Gervais Photo gallery Original theatrical trailer DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 83 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Montage/Main Title [6:48] 2. A Nurse for Mrs. Vogler [1:26] 3. Not Strong Enough [4:46] 4. A Mapped-Out Future [3:10] 5. Dear Elisabet [2:55] 6. The Lie of Real Life [2:37] 7. At the Summer House [3:38] 8. Married Men and Young Boys [9:12] 9. Becoming Each Other [5:36] 10. Open Letter [2:55] 11. Broken Glass, Torn Film [4:49] 12. Just One Word! [4:46] 13. Merely Acting Sane [2:25] 14. Too Proud for Forgiveness [1:43] 15. Ugly When Asleep [5:51] 16. Mr. and Mrs. Vogler [3:15] 17. Scared of Her Son... [3:54] 18. ...Take Two [4:45] 19. Always Out of Reach [4:59] 20. The Departure [3:01]