Art classes drove me to steal and deface a book...

For this project we took 25 (or more) pages from a book, created an image from observation on each, taped them together, drew a figure from observation overtop, and then taped off the negative space with masking tape. The process was then repeated, only with fewer pages.

Persona drawing

Persona

Persona...a most peculiar film whose message the audience flounders to grasp, directed in an artful, meticulous manner, far surpassing the borderline between a mindless studio production and a well-composed piece of visual art. Screenshots can be taken at any interval, regardless of the pertinence of the scene, to observe the ceaselessly wide array of  tonal values and strong compositional components that are tediously controlled throughout the film. In accordance with its visually artistic aspects, the director utilizes the time that is expressed through the filming process itself in a highly visual manner, emphasizing certain moments while blending over others. At one point, the camera trains itself on Elisabeth for a painful few, long minutes, during which time she blankly returns the stare, unblinking, as the room goes dark around her. In another instance, Alma delivers a lengthy dialogue to Elisabeth, exposing her extensive knowledge of the girl without her having spoken a word. The camera focuses and periodically zooms in on Elisabeth's face; the dialogue is then repeated, this time with the camera focused and zooming on Alma. These parallel scenes paired with the artistic mechanisms of the film's direction signify the blurring of the lines between the characterization of Alma and Elisabeth.

Another curious motif pertinent throughout the film (particularly in periods of mounting tension) is the insertion of an alien image to break the flow of the film for the slightest brevity. Within the opening and closing sequences, images of Vietnamese priests who burned in protest of  the war, an erect penis, a crucifixion, the bleeding of a lamb, and, shown at the longest interval, a young emaciated boy in a hospital room filled with unmoving elderly patients (from which I drew an allusion to WWII, regardless of whether or not that was intended). All of these subliminal images who exist in space for only a fraction of a second - hardly long enough for the audience to understand them; so brief that we wonder if they were ever there - ellicit a strong emotional response for the viewer (largely horror: the images are largely of bodily mutilation or societally inn]appropriate subjects). This response and, therefore, the inclusion of these images, allude to the emotional state or thought processes of the subject (Elisabet) who is searching for meaning behind life,or simply "to be", in light of all these catastrophic events surrounding her. It speaks to the fragility of the human psyche; to an interpretation of the bare core of the artist, who creates illusions to hide the destructive nature of humanity and life itself in order to live.

In spite of its outward simplicity - a seemingly undeveloped plotline with minimal dialogue, surprisingly few characters and simplistic sets - Persona explores the human condition in incredible detail through the characterizations of Elisabet and Alma. The audience observes a conversation between the two women, which is peculiar because only Alma speaks. They visualize the blurring between the two characters; the fright inflicted by the one soul inhabiting the body of the other and vice versa. I found it to be not only an expression of a person searching "to be", but also an investigation of the alarming amount of power a person can hold over another in a mutually loving relationship, or if one person so thoroughly understands another as Alma and Elisabeth understand each other. If the lines are blurred between the characters - if Alma can become Elisabeth - then both would experience a sufficiently crippling loss of personal identity. All of these layers together - the complexity of the characters and the difficulty in grasping its underlying psychological/philosophical theme coupled with a highly artistic quality of film and direction - make this a highly successful, thoughtfully-executed film that has withstood the test of time (and that I anticipate will continue to do so).