Ep #79 - Susan Sontag's 60s Pick: Persona

Cinema60

Once again, Cinema60 communes with the dead in order to highlight some notable opinions on film. Tonight’s ghost guest is Susan Sontag and her seminal Sight and Sound review on Ingmar Bergman’s Persona. Known primarily as an author, filmmaker and intellect, in the 1960s Sontag was just beginning her illustrious career as a writer – her essay “Notes on ‘Camp’” helped to define the camp aesthetic to the public at large. Simiarly, her 1967 review of Persona has endured throughout the ages, rising above other contemporary voices to help audiences (old and new alike) better derive meaning from Bergman’s rather abstract film.

In this episode, Bart and Jenna use Sontag’s article as a sounding board to dissect Bergman’s filmmaking and explore the depths of Persona. Easy enough for Bart, who likely would have chosen this film himself if the episode had been about his favorite ‘60s pick. Meanwhile, Jenna muses on the idea that all cinema must have a “point” – even if sometimes the point is that there is no point.

The following film is discussed:
• Persona (1966)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook

Also mentioned:

• Journey to Italy (1954)
Viaggio in Italia
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Starring Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders, Maria Mauban

• L'avventura (1960)
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Starring Monica Vitti, Gabriele Ferzetti, Lea Massari

• Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
L'année dernière à Marienbad
Directed by Alain Resnais
Starring Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff

• Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
Såsom i en spegel
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow

• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Directed by John Ford
Starring James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles

• Winter Light (1963)
Nattvardsgästerna
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Gunnel Lindblom

• The Silence (1963)
Tystnaden
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel Lindblom, Birger Malmsten

• Hour of the Wolf (1968)
Vargtimmen
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh

• Shame (1968)
Skammen
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Liv Ullmann, Max von Sydow, Sigge Fürst

• Duet for Cannibals (1969)
Duett för kannibaler
Directed by Susan Sontag
Starring Adriana Asti, Lars Ekborg, Gösta Ekman

• The Passion of Anna (1969)
En passion
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, Max von Sydow

• Brother Carl (1971)
Bröder Carl
Directed by Susan Sontag
Starring Geneviève Page, Gunnel Lindblom, Keve Hjelm

• The Point (1971)
Directed by Fred Wolf
Starring Ringo Starr, Mike Lookinland, Lennie Weinrib

• Promised Lands (1974)
Directed by Susan Sontag

• Inland Empire (2006)
Directed by David Lynch
Starring Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Jeremy Irons