Hedda (1975 film)

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Hedda
"Hedda" (1975).jpg
British quad poster
Directed by Trevor Nunn
Written by
Produced byRobert Enders
Starring
Cinematography Douglas Slocombe
Edited by Peter Tanner
Music by Laurie Johnson
Production
company
Distributed byScotia-Barber
Release date
  • 19 December 1975 (1975-12-19)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Hedda is a 1975 film adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play Hedda Gabler , written for the screen and directed by Trevor Nunn, and starring Glenda Jackson, Timothy West, Peter Eyre, Patrick Stewart (in his screen debut), and Jennie Linden. [1] The plot involves the experiences of the title character, Hedda (Jackson), the daughter of a general, who is trapped in a marriage and a house that she does not want.

Contents

This film was the first (and, as of 2023, the only) major theatrical film version of the play in English. Other productions of the play in English with sound have been made for television.

Hedda earned Jackson her fourth nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, [2] as well as a third nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. [3] It was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film. [3] The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, but wasn't entered into the main competition. [4]

Cast

Reception

Reaction

AllMovie rated the film 3-stars-out-of-5 and described it as "a tasteful, literate cinematic translation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler." [5] In The New York Times , Vincent Canby praised Jackson's performance: "This version of "Hedda Gabler" is all Miss Jackson's Hedda and, I must say, great fun to watch ... Miss Jackson's technical virtuosity is particularly suited to a character like Hedda. Her command of her voice and her body," and concluded, "the physical production is handsome, and Mr. Nunn is most successful in preserving the claustrophobic nature of the play without creating a static film. Hedda is an imaginative, intelligent film version of a play that I wasn't breathlessly waiting to see at this moment." [6]

Judith Crist of Saturday Review wrote: "a startlingly fresh and perceptive version written and directed by Trevor Nunn and ingeniously interpreted by Jackson. Seldom has a classic been so well served." J.C. Trewin wrote in The Illustrated London News : "No Hedda, seeking an object she cannot determine, has been more infinitely bored, or more dangerous." [7] Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of Spirituality & Practice called the film "A fine screen interpretation of Henrik Ibsen's play" and singled out Jackson's performance for praise: "Glenda Jackson's Hedda battles with the trolls in her heart. She is quite believable as a woman who wants more than anything else the power over other people's lives. When she is denied this right — traditionally a male reserve in her society — the results are grim." [8]

Awards and nominations

AwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef
Academy Awards Best Actress Glenda Jackson Nominated [2]
David di Donatello Awards Best Foreign Actress Won [lower-alpha 1] [9]
Golden Globe Awards Best Foreign Film Nominated [3]
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Glenda JacksonNominated

Notes

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References

  1. ↑ "Hedda (1975)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 18 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 "The 48th Academy Awards (1976)". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Hedda – Golden Globes". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Hedda". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  5. ↑ "Hedda (1975)". AllMovie . Archived from the original on 7 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  6. ↑ Canby, Vincent (26 January 1976). "Hedda on Film Is All Glenda Jackson". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 7 July 2023.
  7. ↑ "Things People Do," Illustrated London News, 263, 6926 [Sept. 1975], 81).
  8. ↑ Brussat, Frederic; Brussat, Mary Ann. "Hedda". Spirituality & Practice. Archived from the original on 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "David di Donatello Awards (1976)". IMDb . Retrieved 29 June 2023.
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