Persona and the Physicality of Emotion in Cinema

Persona is widely considered to be one of the greatest works of art ever made in cinema, and it is clear to see why. Bergman, who wrote, produced, and directed the film, said of the film that he, “had gone as far as I could go. And that in these two instances when working in total freedom, I touched wordless secrets that only the cinema can discover.” The film aims to explore human emotions at their most intimate point, both independently and in the context of relationship. This is aided by the minimal set and costume design, a strict focus on the two protagonist’s alienation from society mentally and physically and the relationship that forms with each other as a result, extreme visual contrast in the environments, and intense close and almost claustrophobia inducing composition in many shots.

There is one scene in particular that illustrates these points best, taking place towards the beginning of the film when Sister Alma confesses to Elisabet about cheating on her fiancé by participating in a ménage a quatre with teenage boys. In the bedroom where they are talking, there is nothing else visible in the room other then the furniture, which aides in the viewer in experiencing the whirl of emotions so vivid on Sister Alma’s face. Her and Elisabet both in white nightgowns and talking personally in a dark bedroom bring the viewer into the room, allowing them to feel the same emotions and intimacy as the characters do. Elisabet lies on the bed near the candle, the only source of light, which causes her to shadows to be more dramatic creating a harsher contrast. Sister Alma is seated on the opposite side of the room, where the light is more diffused, causing her to be illuminated in a flat grey color. As she begins the seemingly innocent introduction to her tale, the shots are composed at a medium range, framing both characters and then eventually their entire selves individually. As Sister Alma continues and her emotions become more expressive, the composition gets closer and closer to her face, forcing the viewer inside her head. During the climax of her story where she reveals she needed to have an abortion, we know find Sister Alma in the bed laying next to Elisabet, where compositionally she is on the bottom of the frame with Elisabet on top. Elisabet has the same high contrast light on her while Sister Alma is almost completely covered with darkness. What the lighting is doing during the scene is serving as a representation of emotion, with the contrast of black and white serving as an allegory of feeling all positive and negative emotions whereas the flat grey means just the opposite: feelings that are muddled or suppressed. Elisabet’s breakdown began as a result of her extreme unhappiness with herself, perhaps the reason being her lack of ability to be a loving mother as later revealed in the film. To know true sadness you must know happiness, then the expectation of happiness, and later unfulfillment. Elisabet was happy being an actress and thought she could find the same in being a mother, and became mute when she realized this was not the case. In the bedroom scene the viewer is experiencing the same transition Elisabet had in Sister Alma, where she finally begins to embrace feeling true happiness and then true sadness, which is why she is barley lit.

Analyzing this scene on paper makes the film appear formulaic, however because of the aforementioned technical elements providing an experience, the actresses’ absolutely flooring performances, and Bergman’s seemingly masterful grasp of the human psyche, the absolute opposite is true. Persona is an exploration in the relationships we have with ourselves and each other, providing insights unique to the medium of cinema.

Elisabet in light and Sister Alma in darkness