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Persona
Sign in to save1966 Swedish avant-garde psychological drama film by Ingmar Bergman
OverviewAI-generated
Persona is a Swedish black-and-white art film and drama directed by Ingmar Bergman, who also served as screenwriter and producer. The cast includes Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Gunnar Björnstrand, and Margaretha Krook. Sven Nykvist handled cinematography, while Lars Johan Werle composed the music. Max Goldstein designed the costumes for the production, which was created by SF Studios.
The narrative takes place in a hospital setting in Sweden and explores themes of dreams, nurse roles, confession, identity crisis, and mental breakdown. The film has a runtime of approximately 83 to 84 minutes and was released in 1966. It is distributed via video on demand by Netflix and available on platforms such as HBO Max, Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, Darkroom, and Artiflix.
Critical reception includes a review score of 9.1 out of 10, 91 percent, and 86 out of 100. Audience ratings list an average of 8.13 on TMDb and an 8.0 rating on IMDb. The film has been assessed using the Bechdel test. Its tagline describes it as Ingmar Bergman's most personal and original film.
Synthesized by Vinony from 37 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, IMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film · TMDB
8.1A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer.
Cast
- Bibi Andersson as Alma
- Liv Ullmann as Elisabet Vogler
- Margaretha Krook as The Doctor
- Gunnar Björnstrand as Herr Vogler
- Jörgen Lindström as Elisabet's Son (uncredited)
Themes
- dreams
- nurse
- confession
- identity crisis
- mental breakdown
- betrayal
- mute
- black and white
- patient
- psychiatry
This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
Key facts
- Directed by
- Ingmar Bergman
- Written by
- Ingmar Bergman
- Produced by
- Ingmar Bergman
- Starring
- Bibi Andersson , Liv Ullmann
- Cinematography
- Sven Nykvist
- Edited by
- Ulla Ryghe
- Music by
- Lars Johan Werle
- Production company
- AB Svensk Filmindustri
- Distributed by
- AB Svensk Filmindustri
- Release date
- 31 August 1966 ( 1966-08-31 )
- Running time
- 84 minutes
- Country
- Sweden
- Language
- Swedish
- Box office
- $250,000 (U.S.)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- film
- Genre
- drama film
- Country of origin
- Sweden
- Original language
- Swedish
- Director
- Ingmar Bergman
- Screenwriter
- Ingmar Bergman
- Cast member
- Margaretha Krook
- Composer
- Lars Johan Werle
- Producer
- Ingmar Bergman
- Production company
- SF Studios
- Cinematographer
- Sven Nykvist
- Narrative location
- Sweden
- Duration
- 84
- FilmAffinity ID
- 878836
- Distribution format
- video on demand
Show 8 more facts
- publication date
- 1967-03-16
- title
- Persona
- color
- black-and-white
- costume designer
- Max Goldstein
- distributed by
- Netflix
- different from
- Persona
- set in environment
- hospital
- review score
- 86/100
Sources (12)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Persona is a 1966 Swedish avant-garde psychological drama film written, directed, and produced by Ingmar Bergman and starring Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann. The story revolves around a young nurse named Alma (Andersson) and her patient, well-known stage actress Elisabet Vogler (Ullmann), who has suddenly stopped speaking. They move to a cottage, where Alma cares for Elisabet, confides in her, and begins having trouble distinguishing herself from her patient.
Characterized by elements of psychological drama, Persona has been the subject of much critical analysis, interpretation, and debate. The film's exploration of duality, insanity, and personal identity has been interpreted as reflecting the Jungian theory of persona and dealing with issues related to filmmaking, vampirism, homosexuality, motherhood, abortion, and other subjects. The experimental style of its prologue, storytelling, and end has also been noted. The enigmatic film has been called the Mount Everest of cinematic analysis; according to film historian Peter Cowie, "Everything one says about Persona may be contradicted; the opposite will also be true".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Persona” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.