Film Illiterate, wherein the proprietor records movies seen, and sporadic progress through assorted lists of the "best". Originally started after regretfully renting something forgettable for the third time. I've forgotten what, but never again! A tedious endeavour since 2005. Hello. 🙂

Persona (1966)

Lists

ranked 6 in Edward Copeland's Satyajit Ray Memorial Anything-But-Definitive List of Non-English Language Films
ranked 9 in Paul Schrader's Film Canon
ranked 11 in Total Film's 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time
ranked 34 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (December 2006)
ranked 41 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (March 2006)
ranked 47 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (August 2005)
one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
one of 101^w102 Movies You Must See Before...
one of Movieline's 100 Best Foreign Films
one of The New York Times Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made
one of TIME Magazine All-Time 100 Movies

Links

IMDb

Ratings & comments

Meaningless

What. The. Hell? Ebert helps, a little... Oh, I give up.

- Sam - 2006-04-22 12:52:57

I still don't get it, but more favourably.

Better on a second viewing, but still so horribly opaque. I've read several attempts at analysis, but they've been, for the most part, nonsense. Misc. notes:

Intro. -- starting inside movie camera etc. -- explicitly (self-referentially) establishes the film as a constructed object.
Spectator and spectacle: boy touching screen, Elizabeth listening in silence to Alma...
Breaking down of normal spectator/spectacle relationship? Burning celluloid when Alma discovers Elizabeth's opinion of her.
WTF?

I still don't get it.

- Sam - 2006-05-09 09:42:10