Radical and poetic, Persona is a psychological drama elevated by director Ingmar Bergman to radical new heights through vivid experimental filmmaking. In the first of a series of legendary performances for Bergman, Liv Ullmann plays a stage actor who has inexplicably gone mute; an equally mesmerising Bibi Andersson is the garrulous young nurse caring for her in a remote island cottage. While isolated together there, the women perform a mysterious spiritual and emotional transference, pushing the boundaries of reality and delving into the psyche. Acted with astonishing nuance and shot in stark contrast and soft light, Persona is a penetrating, dreamlike work of profound psychological depth.

A strong influence on Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and Altman’s 3 Women among others, Bergman’s Persona comes in at 18th place in Sight and Sound’s latest edition of their Greatest Films of All Time list – and for good reason. Persona initially came to Bergman in hospital after another project with Ullmann and Andersson fell through. Like the phoenix, an introspective, cinematic exploration brimming with sensual tension rose from the ashes on the island of Fårö to become what is arguably Bergman’s magnum opus – a tremendous feat in a career of masterworks.