RECOMMENDATION: PERSONA (1966)

Ingmar Bergman is almost the secret God of cinema. Really, only people with an intense interest in film are familiar with him and have seen many of his films, however the are aware of the works of Bergman are very aware of the incredible talent and passion shown in the Swedish filmmaker's works.

'Persona' tells the story of the relationship between a nurse and her patient. It is not extremely long, just over the 80 minutes mark, however the amount of depth and brilliance involved in this hour and twenty minutes is enough to have the audience thinking about it for much longer than their time in front of the screen.

I've heard numerous comments from people after their first viewing of the film, many suggest that "it doesn't make sense" or they "didn't know what was going on" which is fine. The film is purposefully confusing and self aware, knowing that the theme it is dealing with is extremely in-depth, and I think that Bergman would be upset if everyone understood the film and it's implications after a first viewing. The film follows the 'art cinema' movement, with a non-linear narrative, numerous cuts to seemingly abstract situations and also a repeated shot from a different perspective. Granted, the film can be a little mind-boggling, but stick with it and involve yourself completely with the plot and you're in for one of the most beautiful film experiences of your life. Believe me.

Stated in the picture above as 'one of the ten greatest films of all time', Ingmar Bergman's '66 triumph, 'Persona' is definitely a worthy film for kicking off the recommendation side to this site.