Persona

Starring:Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook, Gunnar BjÃ¶rnstrand, JÃ¶rgen LindstrÃ¶m
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Ingmar Bergman's 1966 film, photographed by Sven Nykvist, begins when famous actress Elisabeth Vogler (Liv Ullmann) freezes on stage in the middle of a performance. Struck dumb by an unknown cause, she winds up in the care of young inexperienced nurse Alma (Bibi Andersson), and together they retreat to the seaside for the summer, where they enter into an uncommon intimacy and clash of wills. Bergman's study of the fragility of the human being and the treachery of life is incredibly moving in its perception and unrivaled imagery. And as always with Bergman and his reappearing ensemble of actors, the performances are flawless. Especially notable is the scene in which Alma recounts for the silent Elisabeth a morally and emotionally ambivalent erotic encounter she had experienced on a beach with a friend and two teenage boys. It is one of the most strangely erotic scenes ever filmed, and not a stitch of clothing is removed. Also of interest, and one of the most intriguing scenes in the film, perhaps among the most intriguing in all of cinema, is when Elisabeth paces barefooted back and forth over a patio on which we know there to be broken glass. It is an achievement in simple suspense from which many an aspiring director of thrillers could learn a bit. For those who've had their fill of predictable plots, irrelevant matter, and apish acting and are looking for something a little more sensual, poetic, and relevant to what life is about beyond the daily grind, this may be a good place to start. --James McGrath

Description

With some of the most iconic imagery ever committed to film, this exceptionally beautiful specimenof movie-making (The New Yorker) is recognized as a modern masterpiece and a landmark in late twentieth-century art (Time Out London). Actress Elisabet Vogler (Liv Ullmann) has stopped speaking and withdrawn completely. Under doctor's orders, she's taken to a remote seaside cottage by a nurse, Alma (Bibi Andersson). Alma chats to fill the silence and gradually begins to lay bareher entire identity until she discovers it is being coolly sucked away from her. As the women battle for control and sanity, the question becomes not which of them is patient and which is caregiver, but are they two separate women at all?

Customer Reviews:

Persona.......2007-06-28

One of the director's more surreal, experimental works, "Persona" is an intriguing study of mental illness, role reversal, and the somewhat hazy boundary separating one individual identity from another. In the poetic opening shots culled from old reels, Bergman makes us aware we are watching a film, but the story itself derives emotional intensity from Bibi Andersson's Alma, who becomes ever more vulnerable the deeper she plumbs her life experience. "Persona" is a spooky, mind-bending film that casts a unique spell.

master of tedium strikes again.......2007-06-05

Incomprehensible tripe about a couple of troubled women at a mental health worker's seaside summer cottage. One of the actresses (when interviewed for the supplements) is asked to describe the film--and guess what? She couldn't. I guarantee you, not even the "writer/director" could explain what in hell he was trying to get across.

Worse than that even, the commentary consists of some guy saying things like: "Now we have a close up..."
"It's dark now...wait, now it's light..."
Huh? This individual is supposed to be a film historian! He couldn't figure out what was going on either, so he makes above useless comments throughout. Any wonder why college grads are dumb-as-dirt these days?

Film historian? Oh yeah. Sure, baby.

What was the writer/director on when he put pen to paper?

I have sat through my share of slower-paced films (ie: Polanski's The Tenant, Repulsion, The Pianist; Chabrol's The Unfathful Wife; Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru; Henning Carlsen's Hunger; various Fassbinder flicks; various slower-paced films by both American and Euro director's, etc.) So long as there is some semblance of story there, so long as the tale is about something and goes somewhere...I don't have a problem and can sit still long enough to see the entire film. But here? With this "masterpiece?" Painful--is about the only word that fits.

Mastering the Art of Image .......2007-05-18

If you have not seen Persona you are a lucky person .
You will have the ocasion of still HAVING A UNIC EXPERIENCE IN THE MOVIE WORLD.
The first time you watch "Persona" , Igmar Bergman masterpeace, is a unic ocasion of universal culture.
From there on, your undersanting of film making,your undersanting of how to watch cimema, will reach a new standing.
Undersantig ,the drama, the plesure, the sorrow ....that all emotion of human beings can be expressed on a moving image ! Whooo...

This is a mature film.....were the adulthood o film making was reached .

One of the very best... .......2007-03-27

Where to begin with a film like Ingmar Bergman's PERSONA? It's both a famous and infamous example of world cinema in its heyday (the 1960's, mostly), working hard to stretch the medium past traditional or straightforward storytelling. It's famous, of course, because it was directed by Ingmar Bergman, the legendary Swedish film director (THE SEVENTH SEAL, WILD STRAWBERRIES), featured two of his acting mainstays Bibi Andersson and Gunnar Bjornstrand and introduced Liv Ullmann, who would figure prominently in both Bergman's personal life and professional career. It's infamous because it is usually regarded as a "difficult" film, subject to much critical commentary and debate (which is exactly the kind of response a great film should generate, right?). Was it Susan Sontag who said this was, by and large, a modernist vampire story? I don't know if I agree, but this gives some idea of the range of critical dispute.

After a short but enigmatic prologue, the film opens up into a accessible narrative: that of an actress named Elisabeth Vogler (Liv Ullman) who mysteriously falls silent during a stage performance of Medea (a meaningful play choice in the context of the film) and thereafter will not speak. She is sent to a hospital/clinic where she is assigned to an enthusiastic, inexperienced nurse named Alma (Bibi Andersson). The doctor sends Alma and Elisabeth to her seaside home as a sort of "therapy," where their new friendship gathers an intensity which leads, ultimately, to psychological warfare and strange and symbolic happenings. If this sounds vague, well, that's mainly because the latter part of the film is difficult to summarize (especially without including one's own interpretation of what's "actually" going on).

One thing to notice in PERSONA is its indebtedness to dramatic forms: that is, stage performance. It is certainly no accident how much of the film feels very spare and theatrical. In the hospital, for instance, we see only three persons, Elisabeth, Alma, and the doctor. The hospital rooms are very empty and look, quite consciously, like a stage set. Although the prologue and epilogue include, fleetingly, a few other actors, only four actors have significant roles in the film--two of which dwarf the other two. All of this points very specifically to the notions of art and drama, and more generally, to the that of artifice versus truth; we are intended to sense the artificial structures of the film because they contribute largely to the film's meaning: What constitutes truth? Are we ever, properly speaking, not acting in some way? Can we refuse to participate in the drama of life or are we actors, whether willingly or not?

Let me add that PERSONA is not a characteristic Bergman film by any means. It is far more stylistically adventurous than most of his other films and seems to mark a break of sorts with the chamber dramas of the early 1960's, although there is a certain affinity with THE SILENCE, the final enigmatic film in the "religious trilogy." What I am saying is that, if you know and like THE SEVENTH SEAL or MONIKA or SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT, don't expect such austere storytelling in PERSONA, which is a forceful film partially because it can't quite be critically resolved.

WOW........2007-02-28

Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)

It's been a while since I've added a movie to my all-time 100-best list after only one viewing. I've been doing a good deal of shifting stuff around recently, but always with movies I've seen ten, fifteen, twenty times that have held up well over decades. Tonight, however, I saw Ingmar Bergman's Persona for the first time, and I really found myself with no choice. I've seen a few Bergman movies over the years, and I've always found them thought-provoking and enjoyable; this is the first one, however, that's grabbed me by the throat and not let go until the final frame.

Bergman's eerie meditation on identity begins with Elisabeth Vogler (Liv Ullmann), a famous actress, in the hospital after what we assume is some sort of mental breakdown. A young nurse, Alma (Bibi Andersson), is assigned to care for her, and as part of Elisabeth's recuperation, the two spend the summer in a remote cottage on the shore. Elisabeth is mute, but Alma does enough talking for both of them. The isolation and Elisabeth's continuing silence, however, begin to play tricks on Alma's mind-- or is her reality changing?

The movie hinges on Andersson's performance, which is as shocking today as it must have been in 1966-- her dialogue ranges from the mundane to the explicit, and she delivers it all with the same bubbliness (at least, in the early stages of the movie). Her character never slips, and she plays it to the hilt. Absolutely riveting. Even more impressive, however, is Ullmann, the silent spectre who often seems as if she's floating through the background of the movie; she doesn't have the benefit of dialogue here, so the power of her role comes solely from her body-- her facial expressions, the way she moves, her posture. And despite the greatness of Andersson's performance, Ullmann steals the show here. That's impressive.

A powerhouse of a film. One of the best ever made. *****

The Ingmar Bergman Special Edition DVD Collection (Persona / Shame / Hour of the Wolf / The Passion of Anna / The Serpent's Egg)

Average customer rating:

Well done, but the aspect ratios are STILL wrong
MGM gets it right

The Ingmar Bergman Special Edition DVD Collection (Persona / Shame / Hour of the Wolf / The Passion of Anna / The Serpent's Egg)
Starring: Bibi Andersson , Gunnar Björnstrand , Margaretha Krook , Jörgen Lindström , and Liv Ullmann
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Manufacturer: MGM
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman - Criterion Collection (Through a Glass Darkly/Winter Light/The Silence)
Wild Strawberries - Criterion Collection
Fanny and Alexander (Special Edition Five-Disc Set) - Criterion Collection
The Seventh Seal - Criterion Collection
Cries & Whispers - Criterion Collection

ASIN: B0001MIK6I
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Amazon.com

There is no denying this fact: Ingmar Bergman's films are true commitments. Though averaging only an hour and a half in length, the psychological depth, the magnitude of human exploration, and the emotional rollercoaster you embark on while watching his films can stick with you for a lifetime. According to Bergman, "No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls." By the mid-sixties, Bergman was about to show the world how far the medium film could go. He began to move away from his Seventh Seal style into the dreamlike, deconstructive, nonlinear realm that would continue throughout his career. This DVD set wonderfully captures all his landmark films of the late 1960s marking this significant transition. Each film stars Liv Ullmann, Bergman's beautiful muse, and involves another longtime collaborator, cinematographer Sven Nykvist. Each film has been remastered, and is presented in its unedited theatrical version loaded with pertinent extras, including a featurette on each film, interviews with cast members (every disc has an on-camera interview with Liv Ullmann), a feature-length commentary by Bergman biographer Marc Gervais on four of the films, and a wonderfully surprising commentary by David Carradine on The Serpent's Egg. Couple these films with an extra disc of supplemental material and you have yourself an incredible Ingmar Bergman film festival. --Rob Bracco

The Films:
In Persona (1966), Elisabeth Vogler (Live Ullmann) has stopped speaking and withdrawn from the world. At her doctor's orders, she moves to a remote cottage to be watched over by Nurse Alma (Bibi Andersson). To fill the silence, Nurse Alma talks aloud to her silent listener and slowly lays out her soul and identity to her patient. In essence, the nurse becomes the patient herself. If the extent of your Bergman exposure is The Seventh Seal, be prepared to get blown away by this film's hallucinatory, multilayered exploration in identity and personality. The hallucinatory analysis of personal identify continues with the haunting The Hour of the Wolf (Vargtimmen) (1968). Artist Johan Berg (Max von Sydow) is desperately trying hold on to his sanity, while being haunted by his demons. His wife (Ullmann) is trying to help, but also begins to share Johan's hallucinations. As they both begin a downward spiral Ullmann has to make a painful decision between the love of her husband or her own sanity. Shame (Skammen) (1968) stars von Sydow and Ullmann as a couple in the midst of a civil war. They escape to their farm for safety only to be haunted by the soldiers that invade their home. The Passion of Anna (En Passion) (1969) again stars von Sydow and Ullmann. Andreas and Anna live on a remote island with a neighboring couple. While trying to escape the skeletons of their pasts, they each seek solace in one another, even as their lives are torn apart by deception, isolation and psychological turmoil. The last film in the set is a leap forward to 1977. The Serpent's Egg (Das Schlangenei) may be the weakest of the set, but by no means is it a lesser film. It tells the tale of two Jewish trapeze artists trapped in Berlin during the Nazis regime. Bergman would only turn out three more feature films before disappearing into retirement. --Rob Bracco

Description

Disc 1: HOUR OF THE WOLF SE Disc 2: PASSION OF ANNA SE Disc 3: PERSONA SE Disc 4: THE SERPENT'S EGG SE Disc 5: SHAME SE Disc 6: BONUS DISC

Customer Reviews:

Well done, but the aspect ratios are STILL wrong.......2005-09-29

I had originally given this collection 5 stars, but then did some investigating. It turns out that although they've fixed the aspect ratios on a couple of the films, they are still wrong on Shame, Persona, and Hour of the Wolf. This effectively chops out about 12% of the films, destroying Bergman's original compositions. I didn't believe it at first until I went through scene-by-scene and realized the horrible truth.
[...]

MGM gets it right.......2004-04-24

After much confusion, the long-awaited Bergman set has finally come out. You can disregard all the negative comments you may have read about faked aspect ratios, etc. Yes, MGM tried to pull a fast one on a couple of the titles in this box, but after being caught out, they did the right thing by pulling the box and waiting to issue an excellent set with transfers that easily match those of Criterion, Kino, etc. (Let's hear it for consumer power!) All the titles are now in their proper aspect ratio. The black and white transfers (Persona, Hour of the Wolf and Shame) are truly beautiful. These films have probably not looked this good since they first came out. The digital transfers for the two colour titles offer equally fine video and clear original audio. The disc of bonus materials is fascinating, with rare interviews with Bergman himself from 1970 and 2002. The bonus disc and the five individual titles also offer interviews with key Bergman players, including Erland Josephson, Bibi Anderson and the ever-insightful Liv Ullmann.
As for the films, they speak for themselves. If you still haven't seen the four sixties films in this box (the summit of Bergman's art in the opinion of many critics), here's a chance to get acquainted with some truly great late-20th century art. Forget about the bad press. MGM got it right this time.

Average customer rating:

Gad Guard - Persona (Vol. 3)
Starring: Gad Guard
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video

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Gad Guard - Corruption (Vol. 2)
Gad Guard - Lightning (Vol. 1)
Gad Guard - Collections (Vol. 4)
Gad Guard - Acquaintances (Vol. 5)
Gad Guard - Star Travel (Vol. 7)

ASIN: B0002IQH6Q
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Description

You know you never really know someone until you see into their past. Katana returns to his roots while Hajiki remembers his father and gathers new direction in his life. However, will Hajiki be able to handle the darker aspects of this world and retain his moral standards when the underground makes use of his services? And will Hajiki be able to complete his job when circumstances seem to continually pull him away? Night Town seems to be a little darker now days. But there are some things in life that can place a little light into the world. Maybe even multiple lights

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En Persona
Starring: Luis Vargas
Manufacturer: EMI Latin
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Dominican Republic | Caribbean & Cuba | International | Styles | Music

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En Concierto

ASIN: B000HEWEW6
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Average customer rating:

Persona
master of tedium strikes again
Mastering the Art of Image
One of the very best...
WOW.

Persona
Starring: Bibi Andersson , Liv Ullmann , Margaretha Krook , Gunnar Björnstrand , and Jörgen Lindström
Director: Ingmar Bergman
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Cries & Whispers - Criterion Collection
Wild Strawberries - Criterion Collection
The Seventh Seal - Criterion Collection
Fanny and Alexander (Special Edition Five-Disc Set) - Criterion Collection
A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman - Criterion Collection (Through a Glass Darkly/Winter Light/The Silence)

ASIN: B00008OP6Y

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

Persona.......2007-06-28

master of tedium strikes again.......2007-06-05

Mastering the Art of Image .......2007-05-18

One of the very best... .......2007-03-27

WOW........2007-02-28

Average customer rating:

El Diablo En Persona
Starring: El Diablo En Persona
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000MM1G9U
Release Date: 2007-01-23

Persona non grata / Non-desired person (in Russian)

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Persona non grata / Non-desired person (in Russian)

Manufacturer: A-PRO Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Product Description

ATTENTION: This movie is recorded on DVD-R media. Please make sure that your DVD player supports this media. Komandirovannyj iz Moskvy v Vil'njus dlja podgotovki soglashenija o pokupke neftepererabatyvajushhego predprijatija biznesmen Vadim Sergachev neozhidanno ischezaet. Rassledovat' obstojatel'stva ego ischeznovenija porucheno ohrannoj firme "Fal'kon", sotrudniki kotoroj neozhidanno stalkivajutsja s izoshhrennymi i agressivnymi dejstvijami prestupnikov...

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Persona
Starring: Persona
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

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En Persona
Starring: Lusi Vargas
Manufacturer: Platano (Universal)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Latin Music | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

International | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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The The Ingmar Bergman Special Edition DVD Collection (Persona / Shame / Hour of the Wolf / The Passion of Anna / The Serpent's Egg)

Average customer rating:

The The Ingmar Bergman Special Edition DVD Collection (Persona / Shame / Hour of the Wolf / The Passion of Anna / The Serpent's Egg)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Special Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman - Criterion Collection (Through a Glass Darkly/Winter Light/The Silence)

ASIN: B00092PU2W

Product Description

Available subtitles: English, Spanish, French Available Audio Tracks: Swedish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) Includes:Persona / Shame / Hour of the Wolf / The Passion of Anna / The Serpent's Egg Brand-new digital film transfers Commentary by Bergman biographer Marc Gervais on four of the films Commentary by David Carradine on The On-camera interviews with Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, and Bibi Andersson Featurettes: "The Search for Sanity," "Disintegration of Passion," "A Poem in Images," "Away from Home," "German Expressionism," and "The Search for Humanity" Elliott Gould reads The Passion of Anna (with photos) Photo galleries Original theatrical trailers

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