20 Favourite Films of the 20th Century #13

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Persona

(Directed by Ingmar Bergman; Written by Ingmar Bergman; Starring Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann; 1966)
The line I most associate with this film: "The hopeless dream of being - not seeming, but being."

One of the highest expressions of cinema, Persona is one of the greatest masterpieces of all time, from one of the greatest master of cinema - Ingmar Bergman. An existential and intimate story about an actress that has suddenly gone mute and the nurse charged with taking care of her, away on an isolated island. This is basically the nurse - played by Bibi Andersson, in what, in my opinion, is the best performance by an actor in the history of film - doing monologues - talking about experiences, whatever comes to her mind - while the actress listens - and this is such a fascinating aspect of this film. Slowly, the nurse starts to notice that their personas are melding together. The line between who is who starts to become more and more dubious. This film has some of the most intimate and incredible scenes of all time and it was one of the most unforgettable experiences I ever had - just the first sequence! This film is absolutely another level of cinema!

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Films watched this year

  • 1917 (2019) directed by Sam Mendes
  • 9 to 5 (1980) directed by Colin Higgins
  • A Place in the Sun (1951) directed by George Stevens
  • Adults in the Room (2019) directed by COsta~Gavras
  • Bacurau (2019) directed by Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho
  • Bait (2019) directed by Mark Jenkin
  • Bombshell (2019) directed by Jay Roach
  • By the Grace of God (2019) directed by François Ozon
  • Female Trouble (1974) directed by John Waters
  • Flames of Passion (1989) directed by Richard Kwietniowski
  • For Sama (2019) directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts
  • Ford v Ferrari (2019) directed by James Mangold
  • From Here to Eternity (1953) directed by Fred Zinnemann
  • GUO4 (2019) directed by Peter Strickland
  • I Confess (1953) directed by Alfred Hitchcock
  • Invisible Life (2019) directed by Karim Aïnouz
  • Jojo Rabbit (2019) directed by Taika Waititi
  • Jubilee (1978) directed by Derek Jarman
  • Little Women (1933) directed by George Cukor
  • Little Women (1949) directed by Mervyn LeRoy
  • Little Women (1994) directed by Gillian Armstrong
  • Little Women (2019) directed by Greta Gerwig
  • Long Day's Journey Into Night (2018) directed by Bi Gan
  • Looking for Langston (1989) directed by Isaac Julien
  • Monos (2019) directed by Alejandro Landes
  • Mosquito (2020) directed by João Nuno Pinto
  • Network (1976) directed by Sidney Lumet
  • O Fantasma (2000) directed by João Pedro Rodrigues
  • Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) directed by Céline Sciamma
  • Red River (1948) directed by Howard Hawks
  • Richard Jewell (2019) directed by Clint Eastwood
  • Shadow (2018) Zhang Yimou
  • The Farewell (2019) directed by Lulu Wang
  • The Hunger (1983) directed by Tony Scott
  • The Leopard (1963) directed by Luchino Visconti
  • The Lighthouse (2019) directed by Robert Eggers
  • The Nightingale (2018) directed by Jennifer Kent
  • The Souvenir (2019) directed by Joanna Hogg
  • The Wild Goose Lake (2019) directed by Diao Yi'nan
  • Thelma & Louise (1991) directed by Ridley Scott
  • Un Chant D'Amour (1950) directed by Jean Genet
  • Uncut Gems (2019) directed by Benny and Josh Safdie