Film poster "Persona" Ingmar Bergman

"Persona is a Swedish drama film from 1966 directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film revolves around two women, the nurse Alma and the actress Elisabet, played by Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann. Margaretha Krook and Gunnar Björnstrand also appear in smaller roles.

According to Bergman, the story of the film had its roots in a chance meeting with his former collaborator Bibi Andersson on a street in Stockholm. During the meeting, Andersson was accompanied by her Norwegian friend Liv Ullmann, whom she introduced to Bergman. Ullmann placed the meeting in 1964 and said that Bergman recognised her and asked her on the spot if she would like to work with him. He mentioned that an image of the two women formed in his mind; at the hospital, he discovered an "unpleasant resemblance" between the actresses in photographs of them sunbathing. This inspired the beginning of his story, a vision of two women who "wear large hats and place their hands beside each other." Andersson said, "Liv and I had worked together before and we were very close." Bergman had been in a romantic relationship with Andersson and was drawn to Ullmann. Regarding the development of Persona, Andersson recalled: "He saw our friendship and he wanted... to be a part of it. Involved."

Bergman wrote Persona over nine weeks while recovering from pneumonia, and much of his work was done at Sophiahemmet in Stockholm. During this project, he abandoned his practice of writing complete and extensive scripts before the first shoot, which allowed the script to be revised during the production. In the script, the story ends with the doctor announcing that Elisabet has begun to speak again, reunited with her family and acting once more. Alma remains on the island and plans to write a letter to Elisabet before changing her mind when she discovers the photograph of the Holocaust. Later in the production, this was replaced by scenes where Elisabet drinks blood, learns to say the word "nothing," and Alma leaves the island."