starting with an abstract assemblage of shots that includes scenes of film passing through a projector. We are reminded that what we are watching is not reality, but an artist's reconstruction of it. But this does nothing to lessen the cumulative power of the art. In Persona, Bergman looks at artists' inherent exploitation, and creates a masterpiece in the process.It might seem awkward to tell a story so tightly focused on two characters, one of whom doesn't speak. But Bergman uses these silences as expertly as he uses the bright sunlight of his location to gradually expose how the actress takes over the nurse's spirit. As the nurse chatters on about her fiance and the boyfriends of past summers, the actress watches and listens with a seemingly sympathetic expression. Using tight close-ups of the two faces, the director shows us the gradual merging of the two personalities, and the disappearance of the younger woman's being into the triumphant persona of her patient.Films are the closest we come to experiencing dreams in our waking lives and just like dreams films are rich in symbolism and mystery. Symbolism within films communicates messages much more effectively then we are usually even aware. The effectiveness of symbolism in film is specifically enhanced by the almost hypnotic way the cinema effects the human psyche. This is done through a process of “wish fulfillment” and “temporal regression” as described by Sigmund Freud to explain dreams. This phenomenon is particularly apparent in silent films such as October since verbal communication does not often take place in the dream world. However, the effectiveness of imagery is shown in many talking films as well. A particularly good example of this is Hitchcock’s, Vertigo. Hitchcock shows a conscious awareness of this process and uses it to create a powerfully communicative film. Some films, however, do not use this process and deliberately nega...
