Persona is everything that popular Hollywood films are not and can never be, so I suppose it's an ironic entry into a challenge celebrating The Oscars.
In spite of being widely considered Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece and one of the most influential films of all time (and indeed considered by some commentators one of the 20th Century's greatest works of art in any genre), Persona was not accepted even as a nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards of 1966.
Persona is also one of the great "photographers' films" in that has some of the most original and powerful black and white cinematography ever seen. It's as if the film has been lifted entire out of a series of a dozen or so searingly graphic B&W stills.
My photograph is inspired by the film's opening sequence in which an image of the dangling hand of a corpse appears (with no apparent relevance to what follows in the film itself).
Also present in the pre-title sequence was an image of an erect penis, but it was of course removed by the censors for American audiences. Oddly, it did look rather like an Oscar.
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Firstly, it created a positive feeling in me, seeing the rising hand. The longer I looked, the more depressing it became. Thanks for such an engaging image.
You take Bergman one step further into obscurity. I didn't see the hand at all until the second time I looked at it. I suppose if somebody else said that, it would be a criticism. But I just want to say thanks for the trip.
Very interesting, very different. It probably won't score too well, but I imagine that you used this because YOU liked it. I almost missed the hand, I saw the blur, but almost missed it. I like this.
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