Minor Project: Potential Scene- Persona

Over the next few blog posts I will be displaying, analysing and evaluating existing film scenes to discern whether they would be good for me to replicate and recreate in my minor project. The first of these is the beach monologue from the Ingmar Bergmann film Persona.

Firstly, how easy is this for me to physically recreate, fairly is the answer. There is no complex lighting or camera movement and the set is not too hard to replicate either. I believe this could be almost anyone's bedroom with a little bit of organisation and rearranging of lamps and such, though this s dependant upon how close I would actually like to get to the original look, as this module is not focused upon a final piece as such which is complete, it is solely focused upon the acting I wouldn't be looking to do a perfect recreation but rather as close as I can get to facilitate the performance and make it as good as it possibly can be. The next thing to consider is of course then the performance, the most important factor in this whole thing, and simply this performance is spectacular, so subtly performed and shot that it is captivating and somewhat erotic despite not a single frame of implied nudity or anything like. However, there is one very big glaring issue. It's in Swedish. Not necessarily a deal breaker however, as I am somewhat drawn to the idea of translating it into english and using that as a script and seeing how an english portrayal compares. However, my worry with this is that it would becomes more about the script that the performance or at least the script would somewhat take away from the performance. However, there are things that I certainly like about this scene. Particularly, I love the composition of the scene and how despite it being a monologue, it still features too very strong and very important performances. The way in which the lead interacts with props at key points in her story also highlights a degree of fluidity in the scene, in particular when she gets up for a cigarette feels like it is perfectly timed within the climax of the story and then at the end when she goes to the curtains it all masterfully adds to the flow of the scene and makes it very evident to the viewer that her mind isn't at rest, which admittedly is backed up by her words but it shows that movement is a a very clear extension of the character's thought, this is how I want my actors to perform in the piece that I inevitably make, I want for them to move as an extension of their emotion, this means that they can move freely and most importantly in a way that reflects how their character would move. These posts will be kept short as they are just to highlight the pros and cons of some potential scenes I may use in my final piece, so without further ado, the pros of this scene are that it is simple in set up, it includes some incredible acting that I would like to get close to if possible and it serves as a very good indication of that which I want to achieve myself. The cons however, are that it is in a foreign language and translating that into an english script that does it justice maybe not worth the reward at the end of it and may also detract from what I have achieved in my final product. On top of this, if I was to work with two actors it would seem like something of a waste to only have one of them deliver any lines, while I do really like both performances, it would seem wasteful to have 2 people and only one speaking role. On the whole while this scene has a lot to offer in terms of quality and standard, I do not see myself going with it simply because it is not a complete and easy fit to what I want to achieve.