Persona (1966)

Im speechless.

You know the ending of 2001 a space odyssey? How you're just so confused and you're thinking about what the deeper meaning was and what Kubrick meant by the ending? I loved that unsettling feeling. I loved how it pushed me to be a more active participant in the picture, probed my curiosity, made me reexamine and pore over the final few minutes - looking for a needle in a haystack - to try to make some sense out of it all. Kubrick did that with the final few minutes of his movie and I was astonished.

That is what the entirety of Persona was for me. The entire time I was engaged. I was picking away at every part. And every time I thought i understood it more, or had uncovered some new key to the puzzle, Bergman added a new element that totally changed it for me. It was honestly a thrill. It felt like a mix of an episode of the Twilight Zone, Vertigo, Portraid of a Lady on Fire, and honestly at times I thought of fight club and an imagined alter ego

For a movie so provocative and probing, it was somehow also deeply meditative. I dont know if its because of the mysterious nature, or in spite of it, but this movie put me into a trance. I was calmed by the ocean waves, the sometimes slow conversations, and probably, most importantly, the feeling of comfort you get by knowing youre in the hands of a master filmmaker.

What a powerhouse of a director. Think this was my first Bergman and I am absolutely floored. I dont know what kind of a mad genius he was but hes the ultimate artist. I feel like this movie redefined for me what screenwriting, editing, acting, shot composition should be. The fact that this was made in 1966? Yeah phenomenal.

I also still have no real conception of what the movie really means but I cant wait to watch it again and reexamine. I loved certain individual segment: the life of an artist as the feeling of a fraud, motherhood, facing the challenges of life, etc. But I feel that the picture as a whole still eludes me. The sign of a truly great movie.

Bergman is just so in control here. This movie was a tour de force in the language of cinema and especially how editing contorts the story. I'm amazed. Can't wait to watch another one of his. WOW