Persona response

In the film Persona, Bergman uses the theme of doubling in a variety of different ways. The story focuses around two characters. At the beginning of the film, the two seem to have very different characteristics—almost polar opposite—but it isn’t until later in the film where we see the similarties leak out on to the surface. Alma is introduced has a strong willed nurse who is seemingly independent and has a strong sense about her, however she herself notes that she doesn’t have confidence in her mental strength, in comparison to Elizabeth. Elizabeth is introduced as a woman on a downward spiral, a woman who used to have it all, but then lost focus of what and who she was. Throughout this film, we see this same downfall in Alma.

            Bergman uses these two characters as a reflection of themselves. Elizabeth sees Alma as what she used to be and what she can return to be, whereas Alma sees Elizabeth (in her current state) as what Alma truly is on the inside. The two characters in this film embody each other, and Bergman hints at this throughout the film using different cinematic techniques. Bergman focuses on the two characters as one by splitting the screen between them and forming a singular face to embody both Alma and Elizabeth as different parts of the same person. The film jumps back and forth between shots of Elizabeth and Alma together, acting the same, being the same versus them as polar opposites. There’s a scene where—almost like a dream—Elizabeth touches Alma’s hair. It’s here where Alma believes Elizabeth has spoken to her, which she has, but in a deeper sense. Towards the end of the film, one scene is played twice but in two different perspectives—one of Alma’s and one of Elizabeth’s—which acts as a subtle gesture by the director to mesh the two together.

            In this film, it’s easy to say that Elizabeth changes Alma, but she actually helps Alma realize who she truly is on the inside: a lost and confused soul. Towards the beginning of the film, after their first encounter with each other, Alma is seen on her bed, trying to convince herself that the life she lives is a good one. As a viewer, we get the sense that she’s starting to doubt her lifestyle, which foreshadows her downfall later in the film. Persona explores and exploits the complex characteristics and personalities that we all have inside us. Elizabeth and Alma embody two sides of the same person and the transformation it takes to get between the two.