A Doll's House (1973/II)

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

Henrik Ibsen (play)
David Mercer (writer)

Release Date:

24 August 1973 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Nora Helmer has years earlier committed a forgery in order to save the life of her authoritarian husband Torvald...

Plot Keywords:

Insensitivity | Marriage | Redemption | Dysfunctional Marriage | Foreign Language Adaptation

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Jane Fonda	...	Nora Helmer
Edward Fox	...	Nils Krogstad
Trevor Howard	...	Dr. Rank
David Warner	...	Torvald Helmer
Delphine Seyrig	...	Kristine Linde
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Morten Floor	...	Bob
Tone Floor	...	Emmy
Dagfinn Hertzberg	...	Krogstad's Son
Ellen Holm	...	Krogstad's Daughter
Frode Lien	...	Ivar
Ingrid Natrud	...	Dr. Rank's Maid
Pierre Oudrey	...	Olssen
Anna Wing	...	Anne-Marie

Also Known As:

Maison de poupée (France)

Runtime:

USA:106 min

Country:

UK | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Sweden:Btl | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1990)

Filming Locations:

Røros, Sør Trøndelag, Norway

Company:

Les Films de la Boétie

Trivia:

Despite sharing the same political beliefs both Jane Fonda and Joseph Losey loathed each other.

Movie Connections:

Version of A Doll's House (1917)

Jane Fonda IS Nora

I have been using this film to supplement my teaching of the play to literature classes for a dozen or more years, and it has always been my contention that Jane Fonda was born to play Nora Helmer. She is, as another reviewer has observed, most convincing in the final scene, when Ibsen metaphorically slams the door on conventional marriage--in 19th century Europe, at least. But Fonda's take on Nora is always fascinating, whether she is sneaking macaroons, flirting with Dr. Rank, or dancing the tarantella. Clare Bloom as Nora, in the other film version of the play, is also worth a look, but less is demanded of her than of Fonda, who must convey Nora's progress from schoolgirl to child bride to fully enfranchised adult. One reservation, however: while I don't mind Losey's tampering with the sequencing of the play--such is the license accorded to filmmakers--I do feel that the dialogue in the early scenes, absent from Ibsen's text except as exposition, is awkwardly scripted. Otherwise, this is a winner all around.