"Henrik Ibsen's second-most famous play, Hedda Gabler, has been plenty messed around with in recent years. There was a much-derided stage production starring Mary-Louise Parker. There was Liz Meriwether's sci-fi reimagining, Heddatron. And now there is Nia DaCosta's film Hedda, a rejiggering of the narrative that places a premium on subterfuge and sexual intrigue. It sometimes lands its intended jolt, but too often mistakes arch style for profundity."
"The action has been transposed from 19th century Oslo to 1950s Great Britain, where former bohemian free-spirit Hedda (Tessa Thompson) has moved into a sprawling estate with her new husband, pinched and humorless academic George (Tom Bateman). They've decided to throw a party, ostensibly to celebrate the house and their return from a long honeymoon, but actually functioning as a way to secure George a crucial teaching position."
"DaCosta immediately foreshadows that the bash is going to end badly, sending Hedda stalking around the place with a wicked strut, pistol in hand. An old friend really, an old lover has just phoned to say she'll stop by and Hedda seems both unnerved and invigorated by the news. What Hedda plans to do about the impending arrival of Eileen Lovborg (Nina Hoss) who is an academic rival of George's and a mostly out lesbian"
A reimagined Hedda Gabler transposes the action to 1950s Great Britain, centering Hedda, a former bohemian now married to a pinched academic named George. The couple host a party intended to secure George a crucial teaching post while Hedda prowls their sprawling estate with a pistol, unsettled by news that an old lover and academic rival, Eileen Lovborg, will attend. The film foregrounds subterfuge and sexual intrigue, balancing assured, restrained direction against moments of arch visual flash. The adaptation sometimes lands jolts of insight but often lets stylistic bravado undercut narrative clarity.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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