I love when reactors do more challenging films like these. Especially if they have big followings cause it’s bound to inspire others to check out movies they never would’ve. Bergman is a legendary and important name in cinema that probably directly or indirectly inspired your fav directors. His work is always worth examining. Great job james!
The number of times the fourth wall is broken, and the brazenness with which Bergman includes material that expands and inverts whatever the hell is supposed to be going on in the plot. Complete assault on the narrative and a mocking challenge to distill the chaos that is true cinema. After all, it's only a movie.
The scene where Alma tells the story about the boys on the beach is a low key masterpiece of cinema. It shows you nothing but in your mind you see everything. How she takes time to describe all the crazy details. You’re so drawn in by her words and descriptions, you almost go into a trance. But then, that short, sharp turn at the end - “Then we had sex.” - suddenly snaps you back out of it.
Bergman does a great job at that. Like looking at a swan on a lake, the scenes on the surface don't contain a lot of action or motion, but there is tremendous intensity beneath the surface -- especially emotional and psychological intensity. So many modern film makers - especially armed with CGI are tempted to show something rather than imply it. However, letting the viewer imagine something rather than actually seeing it tends to be more effective -- and in the case of horror films, usually more unsettling.
Bergman has a number of straight up masterpieces. The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Virgin Spring, Fanny and Alexander. Plus a long list of just solid movies worth checking out.
Lynch is right! This was a major influence on Mulholland Drive (your reaction to that movie might be the best I’ve seen), along with a bunch other films. Sunset Boulevard, Godard’s Contempt, Wizard of Oz, Perfect Blue, Vertigo, Mon Oncle, too many noirs to list. You would enjoy any of them, I'm sure. ETA: this is also in the Twin Peaks Universe. Lynch is very self referential. Watching you react to that series would be amazing
Seconded on Twin Peaks. There's infamously a dip in quality midway through the second season but every other part of it is more than worth those ~10 episodes that for the most part are just "less good" rather than actively bad. There are points in all three season where you'll be shocked that it aired on television when it did - in 1990, 1991, and 2017.
Another vote for Twin Peaks - or in fact any stuff from Lynch not covered on the channel yet. Can't go wrong with Lynch, esp. not from a filmmakers perspective.
Fun Fact: The actress playing the doctor in this film, Margareta Krook, has a staty standing outside the drama theater in Stockholm.The statue is heated to body temperature to continue the warmth she gave to people in her life, even after her death. She is missed ny many.
Dude this is an all-time great movie and not one that I'd ever thought I'd see featured on a youtube reaction channel. I really appreciate you seeking out great films that don't necessarily have mass appeal.
Good for you, James! One of the total masterpieces of the 20th century. Out of any art form, in my opinion. And it’s just not because I’m a Swede. ;) This and Kubricks 2001 are probably my two all time faves of cinema. For another masterpiece of art cinema that I think you’d really enjoy, Check out Contempt by Godard. Original title: Le Mepris.
The composition in this movie is off the charts good. It is so simple, yet so effective. Also I hope you're doing well, James. Thanks for doing what you do
HELL YEAH! Can't wait to watch this reaction later. Persona wasn't my first Bergman film, but after watching Persona I finally felt like I "got" Bergman
Persona is the film I remember as having really gotten me into movies/film. It blew me away when I first saw it and I had no idea things like this could be done with cinema. It will always have a special place in my heart. I am so happy you chose to react to this
Great stuff, James! Need to rewatch this. Seen it once and it had a profound effect on me. Some of the best acting I’ve ever seen. Incredible movie from a true master.
It's so great to see you react to Ingmar Bergman! There are so many other great films of his that I would love to see you react to as well, the foremost being The Seventh Seal and Fanny & Alexander (the 5-hour version - you should probably do that one in 2 or 3 segments, to give you some breathing room)
Just watched this yesterday! Haven’t been feeling the best lately. But now I’m looking forward to watching your reaction after work and seeing what you have to say. Much love, James!🙌
I saw this film last year after seeing The Seventh Seal. Once I realized we were getting to see both sides of the same motherhood monolouge, it blew my mind.
No wonder you like Portrait of Lady on Fire so much as well! The visual influence and the location/setting of the women alone on an island. Bergman and this film have influenced so many after, including a ton by Denis Villenueve and how he shoots faces and hands. Incredible visually and screenwriting wise. Glad to find a reaction channel like yours doing a movie like this. My favorite reaction channel on RU-vid. Criterion Collection has an excellent physical edition available fyi!
Haven't seen this one yet, but I'm a big fan of Tarkovsky. So naturally, my next step was to buy the massive Bergman set from Criterion Collection lol. So I've been slowly working my way through that. Although, I have already seen The Seventh Seal & it was amazing 🙌
A deep dive into the crazy mind of Ingmar Bergman! Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a great day!
My favorite Ingmar Bergman films are The Virgin Spring, Shame, and my absolute favorite Fanny and Alexander although all 3 of these are masterpieces. One takes place in Medieval times, another in modern wartorn landscape and the other in turn of the 19th to 20th century Sweden.
For more Ingmar Bergman, I recommend Cries and Whispers (1972). It's especially noteworthy for its use of color. The film is a drama, but it feels like horror, except that it's more horrifying than any horror film I've seen.
Great analysis James. Stoked you tackled this one. Big shout out to Sven Nykvist for his work behind the camera. The cinematography is like another entity - something that forces you to confront the ideas that are being expressed. Brilliant stuff.
Fantastic reaction. Brilliant. As you say: "This is a doozy of a film!" I love for how weird this movie, it still communicates! You were keyed into the themes right from the earliest part of the film. I put this in a lineage of Vertigo, Persona, Robert Altman's "Images", Luis Bunuel's "That Obscure Object Of Desire".....and most of the (color) films of David Lynch (as you pointed out). And maybe Claude Chabrol's "Les Biches" (great one to watch off the channel, probably wouldn't get many views). I LOVE that you hit these classics of WORLD cinema, and I hope you eventually get around to some of the great Fellini of the 50s and 60s (and early 70s. I can't leave out "Amarcord"!) Although I don't love all of Bergman's films (he has so many!), "The Virgin Spring" is one I love. I think you did "The Seventh Seal" already, right? That's definitely up there! THANKS, JAMES!!!!! What a surprise!!!
I thought he had already reacted to that early in the channel. (Someone did it early in their channel, I know that much! lol). The Seventh Seal would DEFINITELY be the next Bergman movie I'd recommend, absolutely. That was my first Bergman, and I think it's most people's first....and probably ONLY. And it's so iconic, to use that overused word. (Cinema Rules did "Seventh Seal" I think, maybe it wasn't James).
Yoo is this your first Bergman? He's got alot of classics, my favourite is the 'trilogy' of winter light, through a glass darkly and the silence; all great films. You really can't go wrong with Bergman if you choose to do more of his stuff. And you got the idea of it in the first few minutes; he loves to deal primarily with the human condition lol
WHOAH!! Are you kidding me?? PERSONA? Ok! Let's do this! I need to roll one first, though, lol. See you on the other side. (You've been going crazy with great movies lately!) (and by lately, I mean since you started the channel! 😅) You're STILL one of the only channels to do "Network" and "Dog Day Afternoon"!
You jumped into the deep end with this one! I highly recommend Fanny and Alexander by Bergman. It is incredibly moving and one of his most accessible movies. It has a great Shakespearean story and characters that you can attach to. Also, watch Mulholland Drive and you'll definitely see Bergmans influence on David Lynch. Great reaction like always. Cheers!
Being Swedish, i am so proud of Ingmar Bergman's contribution to film . He has directed so many amazing films. Persona, The Seventh Seal and ,his last film, Fanny and Alexander will be the films he is remembered for but my personal favorite is The Wild Strawberries .
Did not see this one coming, definitely a film makers film. One of Bergman's best, no one can capture loneliness and isolation quite like he can. You really should try some Fellini, he never watched anyone else's films, he didn't want to be influenced by anyone.
I'm so glad you took this one on. This is one of the most difficult and yet objectively perfect movies ever made. I'll never be able to figure it out (and I'm not even sure Bergman himself has it figured out in ways), but it always gets me thinking in ways that sometimes only great pieces of art can. Trying to solve the puzzle that is this movie is a wonderful experience and it reminds me that the best mental puzzles don't have solutions that matter. It's working through the complex movements that are important. It reminds us that our own minds are puzzles without solutions, and it invites us to work at them anyway.
I had the incredible pleasure of seeing this on the big screen because a theater showed it a few years back. Bergman is my favourite director. A true master! Thank you for the great video! I love your channel!
Well, if you’re going to take on Bergman, you may as well scale his Everest first. I would’ve suggested Wild Strawberries first, but you certainly got to the heart of this one. I’m surprised you didn’t call out the shot of the crew filming the movie we’re watching, to me that’s one of the coolest shots in all of cinema. ‘Oh, yeah, this is a movie. I forgot.’
The kind of feeling this film gave me. I can put very few other films in that catagory. It's the catagory of films that turn my "soul into spaghetti." And, that's actually a compliment, of the the highest kind. I congratulate you for having this experience and thank you for sharing it with us.
Bergman was a big revelation to me. When I saw this film it was like a door had opened and I was seeing films in a whole new way I’d never considered before. I was still thinking about this movie months after I saw it.
I've always found Bergman's films to be challenging, yet so intriguing. Persona was no different, exploring deep, thematical subject matter, including spiritual themes, in regard to some of his other movies. If you get the chance, check out Bergman's period drama: Cries & Whispers. Although it's not a horror movie, the tone of it felt like one lol.
I need to rewatch this movie in its entirety. I second (or however many) watching the Seventh Seal, which is another Bergman movie. He's done quite a few other movies too but I haven't seen a lot of them, only a few besides Persona and the Seventh Seal. You should watch more Lynch stuff too. I think the only ones you've seen judging by your channel are Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet (and the Elephant man, but it's not really in the same vein as a lot of Lynch's movies). I'd suggest especially Inland Empire, which has similar themes of identity and is probably Lynch's most experimental movie. Last Year At Marienbad is another cool experimental movie you could watch. It's part of the French new wave movement of film.
Holy S bro, you went REALLY deep into experimental film with this masterpiece ! Wish you could do more of these - though I assume they're bottom feeders when it comes to views.
Good for you for taking on one of Bergman's challenging films! This is a great movie. And that said, certainly not my favourite Ingmar Bergman movie. Hope you can check out his oeuvre, from a comedy like Smiles of a Summer Night, to dramas like Wild Strawberries, The Seventh Seal, Through a Glass Darkly, etc., up to Cries and Whispers (which I find hard to watch at times, but feels almost perfect), and the mini-series version of Fanny and Alexander. He made so many fine films. Bergman tended to assemble a repertory company of great actors, so many appear in many of his movies. And his cinematographers were excellent, too: Gunnar Fischer, and later Sven Nykvist. Brilliant at capturing light, mood, and the trademark extended close-ups of actors. Akira Kurosawa used some of the same actors in multiple movies, too. And along with Federico Fellini, these three movie auteurs were the ones (along with Indian director, Satijit Ray) I heard most about in my younger years as the international directors working in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Can add some directors from the French New Wave, Italian director Luchino Visconti, etc. to that list. And please check out the darkly comic British movie, Kind Hearts and Coronets, arguably the first of the Ealing comedies. So many great movies from the past from all over the world...
Also try Autumn Sonata, which pairs Liv Ullman with Ingrid Bergman who plays her cold, unloving actress mother. It's kind of to Persona what Casino was to Goodfellas.
A masterpiece, decades ahead of it's time. You can see alot of _Persona_ in contemporary auteur directors' styles - David Fincher comes to mind. Another one to check out (maybe privately) is 1969's _Funeral Parade Of Roses_ - a major influence on Kubrick & _A Clockwork Orange._
I've heard people say that about funeral parade of roses and a clockwork orange but..where is the actual influence? Usually I just see ppl point to the fact there's some sped-up shots in both, I mean it's not that convincing
@@helvete_ingres4717 I agree, I think it may be coincidental, although Kubrick DID see everything, including all of the world cinema so it's conceivable. I wouldn't call it a "huge" influence on Clockwork Orange, I would say that one scene MIGHT have had a germ of inspiration from the other. Either way: "Funeral Parade Of Roses" is a really one-of-a-kind, wild movie of the 60s that I'm happy I saw, and one that stands on its own merits without having to look for "where's the Kubrick easter eggs?" (I only saw it relatively recently, within the last ten years). Believe me: the LAST thing on your mind when watching "Funeral Parade Of Roses" is playing "Spot The Kubrick", lol.
@@TTM9691 yeah that wouldn't be much of a reason to watch a movie IMO. If you enjoyed that, a recommendation from me is Eros + Massacre, also 'japanese new wave'
I've been a movie nut since I was a kid, including a lot of older movies. Ingmar Bergman always kinda scared me. I thought he'd be so unapproachable and cerebral. Granted, Persona is kind of a cerebral and difficult film, but I've found his work to be much more earthy and approachable. I can't recommend his other films enough. The Virgin Spring might be my favorite, but he's got so many amazing movies.
need to watch this movie before i watch the reaction.. just watched Robert Altman`s "3 Women" yesterday and some people mentioned "Persona" in some comment sections about "3 Women".. and i liked Liv Ullmann in Emigrants/New Land and i iiked the only Ingmar Bergman movie i watched "Fanny and Alexander".. its fate that i have to watch "Persona" now
Thanks for reviewing this important film. I do love the vast majority of Bergman's films. This one, I generally don't like -- parts of it are just way too abstract. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I think an excellent film can adequately capture the abstract elements simultaneously while not alienating viewers that would be easily turned off by very abstract elements. I do respect Bergman for trying something very new with this film, but while there are some parts of this film that are very effective, the very abstract parts - especially the ending are just too much of a turn off for me.
