I saw Bergman’s Persona last night and for the most part he gave me an interesting modernist play and a marvellous montage at the prologue (and the epilogue) that suffocated when the film turned into photographed theatre. I am not going to talk about the brilliance of the films subject matter and its plot that is universally cherished. I want to offer my point of view on the shortcomings of the film. Bergman’s traditionalist drama (filmed theatre) and direction makes all the fantastic technical feats, bold imagery elsewhere seem ostentatious. Something also has to be said about the cadence and phonetic property of the Swedish language being the very opposite of dreamy that adds to the overall stiffness, yes he can’t help that. There were some loose camera movements that had no coordination with the action in the mise-en-scene. I think the film also suffers from the beauty of the actresses. After all said and done, Persona is a classic and I did like the experience of seeing the film. Part of its magic is that it talks to you and you just have to listen.