Content deleted Content added
m Styles of Radical Will was originally published in 1969 by FSG. The 2002 Picador edition is a reissue. |
|||
| (9 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown) | |||
Line 28:
Bergman wrote ''Persona'' with Ullmann and Andersson in mind for the lead roles and the idea of exploring their identities, and shot the film in [[Stockholm]] and [[Fårö]] in 1965. In production, the filmmakers experimented with effects, using smoke and a mirror to frame one scene and combining the lead characters' faces in post-production for one shot. Andersson defended a sexually explicit monologue in the screenplay and rewrote portions of it.
When first released, ''Persona'' was edited because of its controversial subject matter. It received positive reviews at its initial release with Swedish press outlets coining the word ''Person(a)kult'' to describe its enthusiastic admirers. It won [[Guldbagge Award for Best Film|Best Film]] at the [[4th Guldbagge Awards]], and was Sweden's entry for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]]. The censored content was reinstated in English-language restorations in 2001. Over time, ''Persona'' has received widespread critical acclaim, especially for Bergman's direction, screenplay, and narrative, Nykvist's cinematography, and Andersson's and Ullmann's performances. Many critics consider ''Persona'' one of the [[List of films considered the best|greatest films ever made]], Bergman's [[Masterpiece|magnum opus]], and a work of art of [[Experimental film|experimental cinema]], and Andersson's and Ullmann's performances two of the best female performances in movie history. ''Persona'' is also considered one of the most difficult and complex films. It was ranked fifth in ''[[Sight & Sound]]''{{'}}s 1972 poll and 17th in 2012. It also influenced many directors, including [[Robert Altman]]
==Plot==
A projector begins screening a series of images, including a [[crucifixion]], a spider and the killing of a lamb, and a boy wakes up in a hospital or [[morgue]]. He sees a large screen with a blurry image of two women. One of the women may be Alma, a young nurse assigned by a doctor to care for Elisabet Vogler. Elisabet is a stage actress who has suddenly [[muteness|stopped speaking]] and moving, which the doctors have determined is the result of willpower rather than physical or mental illness. In the hospital, Elisabet is distressed by television images of [[Thích Quảng Đức|a man's self-immolation]] during the [[Vietnam War]]. Alma reads her a letter from Elisabet's husband that contains a photo of their son, and the actress tears the photograph up. The doctor speculates that Elisabet may recover better in a cottage by the sea, and sends her there with Alma.
At the cottage, Alma tells Elisabet that no one has ever really listened to her before. She talks about her fiancé, Karl-Henrik, and her first affair. Alma tells a story of how, while she was already in a relationship with Karl-Henrik, she [[Sun tanning|sunbathed]] in the nude with Katarina, a woman she had just met. Two young boys appeared, and Katarina initiated an [[orgy]]. Alma became pregnant, had an [[abortion in Sweden|abortion]], and continues to feel guilty.
Line 38:
Alma drives to town to mail their letters and notices that Elisabet's is not sealed. She reads it. The letter says that Elisabet is "studying" Alma and mentions the nurse's orgy and abortion. Furious, Alma accuses Elisabet of using her for some purpose. In the resulting fight, she threatens to scald Elisabet with boiling water and stops when Elisabet begs her not to. This is the first time Alma is certain the actress has spoken since they met, though she thought Elisabet previously whispered to her when Alma was half-asleep. Alma tells her that she knows Elisabet is a terrible person; when Elisabet runs off, Alma chases her and begs for forgiveness. Later, Elisabet looks at the [[Warsaw Ghetto boy|famous photograph]] of Jews arrested in the [[Warsaw Ghetto]] from the [[Stroop Report]].
One night, Alma hears a man outside calling for Elisabet; it is Elisabet's husband. He calls Alma "Elisabet" and, though the nurse tells him he is mistaken, they have sex. Alma meets with Elisabet to talk about why Elisabet tore up the photo of her son. Alma tells much of Elisabet's story: that she wanted the only thing she did not have, motherhood, and became pregnant. Regretting her decision, Elisabet attempted a failed [[self-induced abortion]] and gave birth to a boy whom she despises, but her son craves her love. Alma ends the story in distress, asserting her identity and denying that she is Elisabet. She later coaxes Elisabet to say the word "nothing", and leaves the cottage as a crew films
==Cast==
* [[Margaretha Krook]] as The Doctor
* [[Gunnar Björnstrand]] as Mr. Vogler
==Themes and interpretations==
Line 58 ⟶ 65:
===Psychology===
[[File:
''Persona''{{'s}} title reflects the Latin word for "mask" and [[Carl Jung]]'s theory of ''[[persona (psychology)|persona]]'', an external identity separate from the soul ("[[wiktionary:alma|alma]]").<ref name="Parkinson">{{cite web |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/persona-films-inspired-ingmar-bergman-60th-anniversary |title=Persona 50th anniversary: five films inspired by Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece |last=Parkinson |first=David |date=18 October 2016 |access-date=20 November 2016 |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121104110/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/persona-films-inspired-ingmar-bergman-60th-anniversary |archive-date=21 November 2016}}</ref> Jung believed that people project public images to protect themselves, and can come to identify with their personae.{{sfn|Macnab|2009|p=145}} An interviewer asked Bergman about the Jungian connotations of the film's title, acknowledging an alternative interpretation that it references [[persona]] masks worn by actors in ancient drama, but saying that Jung's concept "admirably" matched the film. Bergman agreed, saying that Jung's theory "fits well in this case".{{sfn|Denzin|1992|p=28}} Coates also connected masks to themes of identity and duality: "The mask is [[Janus]]-faced".{{sfn|Coates|2012|pp=158–172}}
Line 117 ⟶ 124:
===Casting===
▲| Alma, the nurse
▲| Elisabet Vogler, the actress
▲| The boy, Elisabet's son
Bergman had planned to cast Andersson and Ullmann in ''The Cannibals'', a large project he abandoned after becoming ill, but he still hoped to pair them in a project.<ref name="BergmanBlu"/> Ullmann said that she began to be cast in Bergman's films beginning with the mute character, Elisabet: "It was because my face could say what he wanted to say. That made me the one he wanted to work with ... because it was my face and I also understood what he was writing".{{refn|group=n|name="Casting"|Ullmann spoke of why she was cast in the films in 2016. Before the director's death in 2007, Ullmann starred in 11 of his works and became known as his muse.<ref name="Shanahan">{{cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2016/05/20/liv-ullmann-talks-about-ingmar-bergman/TrsHLpqPQo2VKY8Lp9uxVI/story.html |last=Shanahan |first=Mark |date=20 May 2016 |title=Liv Ullmann talks about Ingmar Bergman |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |access-date=11 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011181620/https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2016/05/20/liv-ullmann-talks-about-ingmar-bergman/TrsHLpqPQo2VKY8Lp9uxVI/story.html |archive-date=11 October 2017}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] remarked Bergman and Ullmann's "lives have been intertwined since ''Persona'', and that's been the most important fact in ... [Ullmann's] artistic life", and they also had a daughter, [[Linn Ullmann]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/liv-ullmann-and-memories-of-bergman |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=16 February 2001 |title=Liv Ullmann and Memories of Bergman |work=Rogerebert.com |access-date=11 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011181249/http://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/liv-ullmann-and-memories-of-bergman |archive-date=11 October 2017}}</ref> }} Steve Vineberg wrote that, with the conception of the project with Andersson and Ullmann, Bergman parted with his past uses of [[ensemble cast]]s in films such as ''[[Smiles of a Summer Night]]'' and focused on two leads. Vineberg called the roles of [[Margaretha Krook]] and [[Gunnar Björnstrand]] "abbreviated guest appearances".{{sfn|Vineberg|2000|p=117}}
Line 194 ⟶ 174:
| image2 = Liv Ullmann 1966 (cropped).jpg
| alt2 = Liv Ullmann in 1966
| footer = The performances of Bibi Andersson ({{abbr|L|left}}) and Liv Ullmann ({{abbr|R|right}}) were universally acclaimed and hailed. They are considered to be two of the best female performances of all time,
}}
Line 201 ⟶ 181:
In Sweden, ''[[Dagens Nyheter]]'' critic Olaf Lagercrantz said that a cult following of Swedish critics had developed by October 1966 and coined the name ''Person(a)kult'' for them.{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=270}} In ''[[Svenska Dagbladet]]'', Stig Wikander called it "a [[Gnosticism|gnostic]] quest for divine nothingness".{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=271}} In 1966, theologian Hans Nystedt compared the film to the writings of [[Hjalmar Sundén]].{{sfn|Steene|2005|p=271}} The film ranked 1st on [[Cahiers du Cinéma]]'s [[Cahiers du Cinéma's Annual Top 10 Lists|Top 10 Films of the Year List]] in 1967.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~ejohnson/critics/cahiers.html|title=Cahiers du Cinema: Top Ten Lists 1951-2009|last=Johnson|first=Eric C.|website=alumnus.caltech.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2017-12-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327102838/http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~ejohnson/critics/cahiers.html|archive-date=2012-03-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The [[Swedish Film Institute]] magazine ''Chaplin'' reported that the ''Person(a)kult'' had spread beyond Sweden by 1967.{{sfn|Steene|2005|pp=270–271}} In one of his early reviews,<ref name="Ebert">{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-persona-1966 |title=Persona |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=7 January 2001 |access-date=19 November 2016 |work=Rogerebert.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116124240/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-persona-1966 |archive-date=16 November 2016}}</ref> Roger Ebert gave the film four stars; he called it "a difficult, frustrating film", and said that it (and Elisabet) "stubbornly refuse to be conventional and to respond as we expect".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/persona-1967 |title=Persona |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=7 November 1967 |access-date=19 November 2016 |work=Rogerebert.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120151026/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/persona-1967 |archive-date=20 November 2016}}</ref> [[Bosley Crowther]], writing for ''[[The New York Times]]'', called ''Persona'' a "lovely, moody film which, for all its intense emotionalism, makes some tough intellectual demands". Crowther wrote that its "interpretation is tough", and "Miss Ullmann and Miss Andersson just about carry the film—and exquisitely, too".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173DE773BC4F53DFB566838C679EDE |title=Persona |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |date=7 March 1967 |access-date=19 November 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120152208/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173DE773BC4F53DFB566838C679EDE |archive-date=20 November 2016}}</ref> According to the ''Variety'' staff, "There is no denying the absorbing theme and the perfection in direction, acting, editing and lensing"; they called Andersson's performance a "tour de force", concluding: "Bergman has come up with probably one of his most masterful films technically and in conception, but also one of his most difficult ones".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/1965/film/reviews/persona-1200421050/ |title=Review: 'Persona' |last=Staff |date=31 December 1965 |access-date=19 November 2016 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120153015/http://variety.com/1965/film/reviews/persona-1200421050/ |archive-date=20 November 2016}}</ref> ''Time'''s review stated that the film "fuses two of Bergman's familiar obsessions: personal loneliness and the particular anguish of contemporary woman".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,836855,00.html|title=Cinema: Accidie Becomes Electro|date=17 March 1967|access-date=19 November 2016|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120153017/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,836855,00.html|archive-date=20 November 2016}}</ref> In the 1972 [[British Film Institute]] ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' poll, ''Persona'' was ranked the fifth-greatest film of all time, the highest placing of a Swedish film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/history/1972.html|title=The Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1972|access-date=20 November 2016|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305013222/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/history/1972.html|archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> ''Persona'' was 41st in ''Sight & Sound''<nowiki/>'s 2002 directors' ranking of the greatest films.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll 2002 The Rest of Director's List|url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/polls/topten/poll/directors-long.html|website=old.bfi.org.uk|access-date=11 May 2021|archive-date=1 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201155933/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/polls/topten/poll/directors-long.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Essayists and critics have called ''Persona'' one of the 20th century's major artistic works, and Bergman's masterpiece.{{sfn|Sontag|1969|p=123}}{{sfn|Young|2015|p=127}}{{sfn|Cohen|1993|p=215}}{{sfn|Michaels|2000|p=5}} ''[[The Independent]]'' critic Geoffrey Macnab noted that a number of other critics considered it among [[List of films considered the best|the greatest films of all time]].{{sfn|Macnab|2009|p=145}} ''Empire''{{'}}s David Parkinson gave the film five stars in 2000, noting its variety of interpretations and attributing them to Bergman's distortion of the border between real life and fantasy and calling it a "devastating treatise on mortal and intellectual impotence".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/persona/review/ |title=Persona Review |last=Parkinson |first=David |date=1 January 2000 |access-date=11 October 2017 |work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012100519/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/persona/review/ |archive-date=12 October 2017}}</ref> Ebert added it to his [[The Great Movies|Great Movies]] list in 2001, calling it "a film we return to over the years, for the beauty of its images and because we hope to understand its mysteries".<ref name="Ebert"/> Peter Bradshaw gave it four of five stars in his 2003 ''The Guardian'' review, calling it "a startling, even gripping essay".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/jan/31/artsfeatures.dvdreviews5 |title=Persona |last=Bradshaw |first=Peter |date=31 January 2003 |access-date=11 October 2017 |work=[[The Guardian]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012095212/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/jan/31/artsfeatures.dvdreviews5 |archive-date=12 October 2017}}</ref> For ''The Chicago Tribune'', Michael Wilmington awarded it four stars in 2006 and praised it as "one of the screen's supreme works and perhaps Ingmar Bergman's finest film".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-03-17/entertainment/0603170242_1_star-persona-ingmar-bergman |title=Ingmar Bergman's 1966 'Persona' a successful personal experiment |last=Wilmington |first=Michael |date=17 March 2006 |access-date=11 October 2017 |work=[[The Chicago Tribune]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006112721/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-03-17/entertainment/0603170242_1_star-persona-ingmar-bergman |archive-date=6 October 2017}}</ref> In 2007, ''Aftonbladet'' called its prologue one of the more memorable moments of Bergman's filmography.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article11164002.ab |title=Bergman väljer sina svenska favoritfilmer |last=Bergdahl |first=Gunnar |date=30 July 2007 |access-date=7 October 2017 |work=[[Aftonbladet]] |language=sv |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007195511/http://www.aftonbladet.se/kultur/article11164002.ab |archive-date=7 October 2017}}</ref> ''[[The New Yorker]]''{{'}}s [[Pauline Kael]] said the end result was a "pity", but the scene where Alma describes her orgy is "one of the rare truly erotic sequences in movie history".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/10/13/movies-69 |title=Movies |last=Kael |first=Pauline |date=13 October 2008 |access-date=19 November 2016 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120154147/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/10/13/movies-69 |archive-date=20 November 2016}}</ref>
[[File:Ingmar Bergman (1966).jpg|200px|thumb|left|alt=Bergman in 1966|Several critics called ''Persona'' Ingmar Bergman's ''magnum opus'', and he won the [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director]] for the film.]]
Reviewing ''Persona''{{'s}} home video, [[Richard Brody]] credited Bergman for a work that shed realism with special effects and conveyed "a tactile visual intimacy", and praised the film's island setting.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/dvd-of-the-week-persona |title=DVD of the Week: Persona |last=Brody |first=Richard |date=4 August 2010 |access-date=11 October 2017 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012095228/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/dvd-of-the-week-persona |archive-date=12 October 2017}}</ref> Leonard Maltin gave the film {{frac|3|1|2}} stars in his ''2013 Movie Guide'', calling it "haunting, poetic, for discerning viewers".{{sfn|Maltin|2012}} According to ''Time Out''{{'}}s review, Elisabet can (despite her fraud) be understood: "not an easy film, but an infinitely rewarding one".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/persona |title=Persona |last=TM |access-date=11 October 2017 |work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]] |date=9 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012095250/https://www.timeout.com/london/film/persona |archive-date=12 October 2017}}</ref> ''[[Chicago Reader]]'' critic Dave Kehr wrote that it might be Bergman's best, but objected to its unoriginal ideas (for an experimental film) and tediousness.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/persona/Film?oid=1054155 |title=Persona |last=Kehr |first=Dave |access-date=11 October 2017 |work=[[Chicago Reader]] |date=21 February 1985 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012100134/https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/persona/Film?oid=1054155 |archive-date=12 October 2017}}</ref> Emanuel Levy reviewed ''Persona'' in 2016, calling it a complicated, mysterious and artistic psychological drama with experimentation presenting a novel result.<ref name="Levy">{{cite web |url=http://emanuellevy.com/review/featured-review/persona-1966-ingmar-bergmans-masterpiece-starring-liv-ullmann-and-bibi-andersson/ |title=Persona: Ingmar Bergman's 1966 Masterpiece is among the Films that Made Me Want to Become Critic |last=Levy |first=Emanuel |date=28 May 2016 |access-date=11 October 2017 |work=[[Emanuel Levy|Emanuellevy.com]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012150006/http://emanuellevy.com/review/featured-review/persona-1966-ingmar-bergmans-masterpiece-starring-liv-ullmann-and-bibi-andersson/ |archive-date=12 October 2017}}</ref>
In 1996, ''Persona'' was included in [[Movieline]] Magazine's "100 Greatest Foreign Films".<ref>{{cite web|title=100 Greatest Foreign Films by Movieline Magazine|publisher=[[Filmsite.org]]|url=http://www.filmsite.org/foreign100_2.html|access-date=19 April 2009}}</ref> ''[[The Village Voice]]'' ranked the film at number 102 in its Top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list in 1999, based on a poll of critics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/take/one/full_list.php3?category=10 |title=Take One: The First Annual Village Voice Film Critics' Poll |access-date=27 July 2006 |year=1999 |work=The Village Voice |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826201343/http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/take/one/full_list.php3?category=10 |archive-date=26 August 2007}}</ref> ''Persona'' was included on ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''{{'}}s [[Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies|All-Time 100 best movies]] list<ref>{{cite magazine|title=''Persona''|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2005/02/12/all-time-100-movies/slide/persona-1966/|magazine=Time|date=15 January 2010 |last1=Schickel |first1=Richard }}</ref> and in ''The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made''.{{sfn|Nichols|Scott|2004|p=751}} In 2010, it was ranked 71st in ''Empire'' magazine's "100 Best Films of World Cinema".<ref>{{cite web| title = The 100 Best Films of World Cinema – 71. Persona| url = https://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/default.asp?film=71| date = 11 June 2010| access-date = 20 November 2016| work = [[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]| url-status = live| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924050853/http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/default.asp?film=71| archive-date = 24 September 2015}}</ref> In the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' polls, it was ranked the 17th-greatest film ever made in the critics' poll (tied with [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s ''[[Seven Samurai]]'')<ref name="bfi">{{cite journal |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time |title=The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time |issue=September 2012 |date=1 August 2012 |journal=[[Sight & Sound]] |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=6 June 2013 |editor-link=Ian Christie (film scholar) |editor-first=Ian |editor-last=Christie |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301135739/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time |archive-date=1 March 2017}}</ref> and 13th in the directors' poll.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/directors|title=Directors' Top 100|year=2012|journal=[[Sight & Sound]]|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209010504/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/directors|archive-date=9 February 2016}}</ref> In the 2022 edition of Sight & Sound's ''Greatest films of all time'' list the film ranked 18th in the critics poll<ref>{{cite web|title=The Greatest Films of All Time|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/greatest-films-all-time|website=bfi.org}}</ref> and 9th in the director's poll.<ref>{{cite web|title=Directors' 100 Greatest Films of All Time|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/directors-100-greatest-films-all-time|website=bfi.org}}</ref> In 2012 the film ranked sixth on the 25 best Swedish films of all time in a poll of 50 film critics and academics by film magazine ''FLM''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.flm.nu/2012/08/de-25-basta-svenska-filmerna-genom-tiderna/ |title=De 25 bästa svenska filmerna genom tiderna |date=30 August 2012 |work=Flm |language=Swedish |access-date=30 August 2012}}</ref> In 2017, ''The Daily Telegraph'' called ''Persona'' one of "the most pretentious movies of all time" and a "wholly subjective" exercise.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/pretentious-arthouse-movies-time/persona-1966what-think-young-nurse-bibi-andersson-actress-liv/ |title=A wholly subjective list of the most pretentious movies of all time: Persona (1966) |last=Cumming |first=Ed |date=24 May 2017 |access-date=11 October 2017 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012101420/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/pretentious-arthouse-movies-time/persona-1966what-think-young-nurse-bibi-andersson-actress-liv/ |archive-date=12 October 2017}}</ref> {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|91|9.10|
===Accolades===
''Persona'' won the [[Guldbagge Award for Best Film|Best Film]] award at the [[4th Guldbagge Awards]].<ref name="SFI">{{cite web |url=http://www.sfi.se/en-GB/Swedish-film-database/Item/?type=MOVIE&itemid=4743&iv=Awards |title=Persona |publisher=Swedish Film Institute |date=1 March 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311135515/http://www.sfi.se/en-GB/Swedish-film-database/Item/?type=MOVIE&itemid=4743&iv=Awards |archive-date=11 March 2014}}</ref> It was Bergman's first work to win the [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film]]; his 1973 ''[[Scenes from a Marriage]]'' was his only other film so honoured.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2007/07/ingmar-bergman-.html |title=Ingmar Bergman never won best picture at the Oscars |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=30 July 2007 |access-date=5 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006112714/http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2007/07/ingmar-bergman-.html |archive-date=6 October 2017}}</ref> Although it was the Swedish entry for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] at the [[39th Academy Awards]], the film was not accepted by the academy.{{refn|group=n|name="Oscar"|Journalist Michael Wilmington, observing the fact that Sweden submitted the film but the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] did not nominate it, criticized the Academy for preferring conventional cinema beginning in 1966 and continuing to the time of his writing in 1992.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
| |||