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Early Bergman vs middle: "To Joy;" "Persona."

Posted by tinear on May 11, 2011 at 14:53:05:
1950: Bergman already had more than a few movies under his directorial belt when he made the story of two violinists who fall in love. Of course, it is the woman who gives up her career and becomes the childcare worker: the plot is trite. But Bergman's skill elevates this melodrama by making the characters more than unthinking sausages; Stig Olin, as the mediocrity with the gargantuan aspirations and the wandering eye, is easily conjectured to be a stand-in for the director. In his own life, in fact, Bergman was indeed estranged from his wife and family at the time (though the outcome wasn't nearly as dramatic). The weaving of much beautiful music with the always notable Bergman cinematography creates a compelling story.
"Persona?" Two very beautiful women upon whom to gaze for an hour and a half as one of them shares her most private secrets. There are more than a few remarkably splendorous natural scenes (a pristine island) and a creative prologue with several of the most disturbing newsreel videos of the time; the ugliness of the outside world juxtaposed with the deep alienation and withdrawal of the character almost reads as a justification, as a logical explanation. If you're not crazed by all this, Bergman may be saying, you're already crazy.
"Persona" has no plot, no momentum: it is more a poem, a bizarre one, than a drama. I preferred the earlier film, but I can't say I looked away for a moment during "Persona:" Bibi and Liv are far too beautiful.