Persona

It’s possible to draw some parallels between David Lynch’s INLAND EMPIRE and Ingmar Bergman’s Persona. In both the director won’t let us forget that we are watching a movie and he makes us question the role of the watcher, just as the actors are asking questions of their own characters or personas. The opening scenes from old silent movies reinforce the idea that what we are watching is a piece of craft, it’s not real, and so does it matter? Should it matter to those making it, those playing the parts or those watching? Where does the responsibility of each group begin and end? I suppose the film is asking, what makes a person, a person and what responsibilities do we have to act consistently with the persona we have established? Fascinating stuff and not at all as dry to watch as it may sound. The scene where Bibi Andersson relates her sexual adventure on the beach manages to be highly erotic without so much as a hint of actual flesh. The telling of this story is so real that I understand many people apparently retell this scene as though the action actually occurs, which of course it never does. The film is also famous for the use of newsreel footage of a Buddhist Monk setting himself on fire and the composition of scenes where the Liv Ullman and Bibi Andersson characters appear to come together.