Bergman’s penetrating and psychological masterpiece explores the volatile relationship and the merging of identities between a mute actress and her nurse.

Running from Mon 15 - Thu 18 Jan.

The horrors of modern existence, exemplified by TV footage we see of a monk setting fire to himself in protest against the Vietnam War, weigh heavily on Ingmar Bergman’s intense chamber drama. Stage actress Elisabet Vogler (Ullmann) suddenly refuses to speak and goes to convalesce by the sea with nurse Alma (Andersson), where a fraught battle of wills and identities begins as Elisabet’s maddening silence seems to exacerbate the cracks in Alma’s own fragile persona.

Close-up shots of the overlapping faces of the two women suggest their personalities gradually merging, as if Elisabet is feeding vampiristically on her attendant. One of Bergman’s most stylistically radical works, the film itself seems to catch fire at one point, before the ‘projection’ recommences.

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COMPETITION: Win 1x pair of tickets to attend Ingmar Bergman: Persona at BFI Southbank at 20:30 on Thursday 18 January.
To enter the competition, send an email to vienna@run-riot.com with the correct answer in the ‘subject’ line. The winner will be randomly selected.
Q: Did you know... In the spring of 1965 Bergman was admitted to the Sophia Hospital, Stockholm, for double pneumonia and acute penicillin poisoning. While hospitalized, he created the basic script of Persona. But the question is... The name of Bibi Andersson's character in Persona, "Alma" is Spanish and Portuguese for what?
A: .1) Soul .2) Voyager .3) Soft-haired .4) Victorious