This may sound far out but when Alma and Elizabet are in front of the mirror stroking each other's hair, I think that this is when Elizabet is dreaming. Reality starts to sink in while she is asleep. She realizes that they are not two different people while she is asleep (when she can't consciously fabricate Alma's existence).
While I was watching the movie, I thought it was really interesting that both Alma and Elizabet had pregnancies that were far from conventional. Alma had an orgy and then had an abortion while Elizabet just had a baby to prove that she would be a good mother, but didn't really want the baby after all. Perhaps Alma had certain parts about her that Elizabet wanted, such as her having an abortion. What Alma says reflects Elizabet's true feelings. This corroborates with the theory that Elizabet is real whereas Alma is just a figment of her imagination.
I'm sure that my theories/thoughts could be disproved but these were just a couple of things I thought while watching Persona and it was made to be interpreted in many different ways.
I too agree that they are the same person. It is sort of confusing to think about it. For me, I think the blonde haired woman is Elizabet, but she calls herself Alma. And the other woman is simply an imagination, where "Alma" calls her Elizabet. Perhaps fake "Elizabet" is the person that "Alma" who is really Elizabet wants to be and even look like. Man, I hope that made sense.
ReplyDeleteI agree more with Olga. I believe the blonde one (Alma?) is the original, while the dark haired one is the imaginary. Just because in the beginning, Alma knew everything about Elizabeth and held her up in the up most admiration. I believe Elizabeth was somebody Alma wanted to be, because she had everything that Alma wanted from a successful, lavish career to a child and a husband.
ReplyDeleteMy own view is that this account of Persona kind of oversimplifies and misrepresents. True, Alma does seem to grow progressively more vulnerable; in the course of the film she is reduced to fits of hysteria, cruelty, childish dependence and possible delusion. It's also true that Elizabeth gradually becomes stronger, that is, more active, more responsive; though her change is far subtler and, until virtually the end, she still refuses to speak. But all this is hardly tantamount to an 'exchange' of attributes and identities. Nor is it established that Alma, however much she does come, with pain and longing, to identify herself with the actress, takes on Elizabeth's dilemmas.
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