I’ve been thinking about this movie since it finished, but I’ve got to admit: like some other of my Bergman movie reviews, this one’s going to be on the short side. His movies need multiple viewings most of the time (the only one so far that I don’t think requires further viewings – though I’ll be giving it many – is the beautifully simple, even more beautifully simple as I see more of his work, Autumn Sonata). Persona is heavy stuff, and, as with a lot of Bergman movies, you can see where some bigshot directors today got their stuff. I’ve had a suspicion that Friedkin was borrowing from Bergman for a while, but there’s a lot in this particular film that I recognise in The Exorcist. The story, though vastly different, almost reminded me of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, in its sensibilities, etc, the terror one can feel when identity and existence seems to be slipping from your grasp. There’s some freaky Ring like montages, and a stunning effect that blends the lead actresses faces to a burst of eerie music. I’ve a ton of ideas I’m resisting the urge to try to write about this movie because they’re just fragments of thought that I’ll get lost on. I really need to see this movie again.

The movie was apparently previously banned or censored pretty much everywhere, for a Fight Club Tyler Durden ish frame of an erect penis in the opening montage. The UK DVD I saw was uncut, but I really don’t think this practically subliminal moment makes much difference to the movie. The DVD includes possibly the stupidest extra ever, which is the cut version of the montage, lol.

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