See how Ingmar Bergman’s Persona influenced the cinema that came after it

From Apocalypse Now and The Silence of the Lambs to Heat, The Truman Show and Fight Club.

Film classics like Ingmar Bergman’s 1966 Persona are sometimes difficult to place within cinematic trends and traditions, but this Vimeo montage might make it a little easier.

Despite being pretty avant-garde, the Swedish psychological drama clearly influenced a huge number of directors many years after its release, particularly in terms of the way it played with foreground and background, mirroring, symmetry and breaking the fourth wall.

“The influence of Ingmar Bergman's Persona is legion,” explained Steven Benedict, who put together the video.

“This short video-essay uses but 29 examples to position his masterpiece in terms of what came after it (from Apocalypse Now and The Silence of the Lambs to Heat, The Truman Show and Fight Club) and what went before (from Orphée and Vertigo to Psycho and Shadows).

“It shows how Bergman visualised his central theme of identity by way of reflections, splitting the screen, and shadows.”

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