The film itself is one of Bergman's very best, although he has done still better. He has also done far worse. Sometimes one feels that a good crack upside the chops would be a suitable treatment for some of his more nails-on-blackboard neurotics. (Liv Ullman's well-played but ill-conceived wretch of a needy daughter in "Autumn Sonata" leaps to mind.) His characters here, while not going out of their way to be sympathetic (a welcome relief, actually), aren't an overwrought turn-off, either. They may, however, be carrying a little too heavy an aura of deep mystery to really be able to ground the picture. If that's a drawback, though, it's also the source of a lot of the film's enduring strength. Being a more a mood piece than anything else, it can't give us everything. But what it CAN give it gives generously enough that I'm not inclined to complain.
The pacing here is, no surprise, languid - but watching this film is like being swallowed up by a supernaturally comfortable chair. One feels caught between a light doze and a heightened sense of awareness. For all of it's slowness, the movie seems to end only a few moments after it has started.
Now they need to hurry up and give "Persona" the Criterion treatment.
It is the story of three sisters, and a servant girl. One sister is dying, as the other three women wait on her. The performances are out-standing, my favorite is Bergman-regular Liv Ullman. There are reflections of the past, a need for answers and redemption. It will ruin our day, but we'll be better because of this cinematic triumph. It is very important to experience this picture, (The dvd has an opinional ENGLISH-dubbed soundtrack)it might make you feel better about your life and family.
Sven Nykvist's Oscar-winning Cinematography is haunting, beautiful, and makes characters out of every color. RED is very dominant and even sticks with you long after the film is over. This is a masterpiece, a bit of truth and pain rolled up in a film.
