Thursday, January 23 2020 | Persona Sweden 1966 d.Ingmar Bergman with Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook, Gunnar Björnstrand and Jörgen Lindström. Black and white. In Swedish with English subtitles. 84 m
“Bergman had reached the end of something; he sensed that the forms and styles of his chosen art form had been exhausted. He was more interested in the life that inhabited them, and he knew that in some way he had to break through those forms in order to get to that life—and to his own….[He] blends a theatrical subjectivity—scenes of the inner life that defy physical reality and depend on special effects, whether in the film lab or on set—with a tactile visual intimacy, with his characters, the objects close at hand, and the superb coastal landscape. He also captures—or, rather, reveals—the blasted inner landscape of political and historical horrors, the Vietnam War and the Holocaust (which he evokes in a scene involving an iconic image that he examines with a distinctive artistry). Perhaps Bergman could indeed go no further, as, crucially, he conveys the sense that the cinema itself could go no further. In some respects, he was right. It couldn’t go on; it went on.” Richard Brody
Links: IMDB Wikipedia Ingmar Bergman Foundation
See Also: För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor aka All These Women (Bergman, 1964), Weekend (Godard, 1968)
Series: Winter 2020 :: Bergman 60s