Persona

Literal definition of toxic yuri. This film genuinely surprised me. I don't think I had ever even heard of it until today but im so gladdd i did now. I haven't been this locked in into a film in a while. The whole concept for this was so interesting. Two women, one nurse and one mute actress slowly growing closer together, ultimately ending up codependent on each other. Alma is like a light, she loves talking, has a fiance and dreams of starting a family. Elisabeth on the other hand works as an actress, doesn't talk and fears settling down. They're the complete opposites of eachother, both draining off of eachother in different ways. The movie takes a turn as we slowly start to notice weird things about the womens relationship. In the end we learn, that after all Alma and Elisabeth were the same person with Elisabeth being just a projection of Alma's depressive side. The differences between the two women show how her dreams and the expectations set upon her directly contradict eachother. I love how both their simultaneous differences as well as similarity it's shown in this film down to the details. Alma even mentions how her mother was also a nurse but stopped working after she got married, implying the same might happen to her. She says she loves her job but keeps talking about starting a family with her fiance, mentioning how her life is all planned out and it bringing her a feeling of security. And the detail of her saying they look similar. I also love how women were potrayed. Considering this was made in the 60s it's crazy how Bergman potrays his female characters as actually having a personality of their own, sexuality and problems. This film discusses so many taboo topics and shows things that were considered bad back then. Alma openly discusses her past actions from orgies to abortion with Elisabeth and they aren't really even potrayed as "shameful". Yes, Alma considers them shameful but rather than the film making her seem like a "bad person" it shifts the attention to the societal pressures that led to Alma feeling like this. The pressure to live a traditional life, to have children and to live a specific way. This film shifts away from the traditional 60s type of woman to focus on the interactions between two women who in the end, end up being the same person putting on different personas. This film breaks so many boundaries in the ways it talks about sex, how it potrays women and just in terms of film making in general. It's just insane to me that a film like this was made in the 60s. This is actually fight club for women. Also.. was this a 500dos reference?