In reading Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House," much of the dialogue seems outdated and melodramatic. Miraculously, the film artists in this production found a way to overcome all of the obstacles.
The villain Nils Krogstad and the improbable circumstances of his reunion with Kristine Linde were made palpably real and moving. And the truly luminous performance is that of Juliet Stevenson, who finds a way to convincingly transform Nora Helmer in the play's final scene.
The direction of the play was especially noteworthy. There was no attempt to "open up" the script. Everything was confined to the "doll house" with no stagey quality. The close-ups were well-timed and always appropriate for depicting subtext, especially in the Nora's erotically charged scene with the appropriately named Dr. Rank.
This is truly worth seeing in repeated viewings for the brilliant choices made in producing such a relevant work of social realism from the father of modern drama.
The villain Nils Krogstad and the improbable circumstances of his reunion with Kristine Linde were made palpably real and moving. And the truly luminous performance is that of Juliet Stevenson, who finds a way to convincingly transform Nora Helmer in the play's final scene.
The direction of the play was especially noteworthy. There was no attempt to "open up" the script. Everything was confined to the "doll house" with no stagey quality. The close-ups were well-timed and always appropriate for depicting subtext, especially in the Nora's erotically charged scene with the appropriately named Dr. Rank.
This is truly worth seeing in repeated viewings for the brilliant choices made in producing such a relevant work of social realism from the father of modern drama.