"Ingmar Bergman's most personal and original film"
Persona - Movie Quotes
Memorable Quotes
The hopeless dream of being. Not seeming, but being. Conscious at every moment... At the same time, the chasm between what you are to others and to yourself.
— The Doctor
Context:
This is part of a monologue delivered by the doctor to Alma, in front of a silent Elisabet, in the hospital near the beginning of the film. She is explaining her understanding of why Elisabet has chosen to become mute, framing it as a profound existential choice.
Meaning:
This quote, delivered as the doctor analyzes Elisabet's condition, encapsulates the film's central philosophical theme. It speaks to the existential struggle for authenticity in a world that demands performance and the painful awareness of the gap between one's inner self and the external 'persona'.
But you can be immobile. You can fall silent. Then, at least, you don't lie.
— The Doctor
Context:
Continuing her monologue, the doctor expresses a level of admiration for Elisabet's decision, seeing it as a logical, if extreme, solution to the problem of inauthenticity she described earlier.
Meaning:
This line provides the core justification for Elisabet's silence. It presents her muteness not as an illness, but as a radical moral and existential stance—an attempt to achieve a state of purity by refusing to participate in the deceptions of language and social interaction.
No, I'm not like you. I don't feel the same. I'm not Elisabet Vogler. You are Elisabet Vogler.
— Alma
Context:
This quote is spoken during a highly charged confrontation late in the film. Alma repeats the lines with increasing intensity, as if trying to convince herself as much as Elisabet, while the camera focuses on the famous merged image of their two faces.
Meaning:
This desperate assertion from Alma signifies the climax of her identity crisis. After their personalities have almost completely merged, she tries to violently re-establish the boundary between herself and Elisabet, insisting on her own separate identity in a way that reveals just how fragile it has become.
Repeat after me. Nothing.
— Alma
Context:
Towards the end of the film, in a moment of psychological dominance, Alma coaxes the near-catatonic Elisabet to whisper the word "nothing." This marks a turning point before the film's ambiguous conclusion.
Meaning:
Here, Alma has seemingly gained control over Elisabet, forcing her to speak the only word she utters in the film. The word 'nothing' is deeply symbolic, possibly representing the void at the core of Elisabet's being, the result of her withdrawal from life, or the ultimate truth she has discovered.