Sweden 1966 | 85 minutes | English subtitles | Certificate 15.
Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece. While performing onstage, the actress Elisabeth Vogler loses the power of speech. There follows a mental breakdown throughout which she is bed-ridden and unable, or unwilling, to speak. Her doctor sends her to a house by the sea, to be cared for by a young nurse, Alma.
Alma becomes fascinated by her silent patient and reveals intimate secrets about her own past. But Elisabeth’s silence soon perturbs Alma’s calm, and the nurse undergoes a strange inner transformation…
“Persona is a rich, allegorical work that rewards repeated viewings. One of Bergman’s most important films, Persona creates a terrifying world in which filmmaking becomes bound up with insanity, anxiety and a crushing sense of angst.” FILM 4
“Bergman at his most brilliant. Not an easy film, but an infinitely rewarding one.” TIME OUT
“Persona is a film we return to over the years, for the beauty of its images and because we hope to understand its mysteries.” ROGER EBERT
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