Censorship
Two scenes are frequently cut from versions of the film; a brief shot at the beginning depicting an erect penis, and segments of Alma’s nighttime monologue about her abortion and menage a quatre (the American print makes no reference to ages; in the original, it is implied that they are twelve or thirteen).
When MGM archivist John Kirk restored Persona as part of a larger restoration project, he worked with the original, uncensored version with the brief shot of an erect penis. He also created new subtitles by commissioning several language experts to provide new, accurate translations for the dialogue; this is particularly noticeable during Alma’s graphic sexual descriptions, which some were reluctant to translate without toning down the language. It is, however, important to note that this restoration is heavily cropped.
The original, uncensored version wasn’t widely available in the U.S. until 2004, when MGM’s home video department reissued Persona on DVD, utilizing Kirk’s work.
Read more about this topic: Persona (film)
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—Robin Morgan (b. 1941)