A very handsome TV version of the Ibsen play has Jane Fonda cast against type as the not So independent heroine who must face her mistakes and stand up to fix an element of fraud she committed to gain some money from her father's estate, something that in 1800's Norway wasn't possible. She is basically coddled and put on a pedestal but not really appreciated or taken seriously by husband David Warner, and on the surface, she does seem flamboyant and flighty.
That's not something that you associate with the very independent-minded Jane Fonda, appearing here in one of two versions of the play made that year, this one released for TV and looking like it should have been on PBS rather than the more mainstream networks. When she returns home with a large number of Christmas gifts, she must explain each of them to her husband, and he looks at her like a doll, one that is amusing but you put aside when you tire of it. The arrival of a recently divorced friend stirs up the independence in Nora, and the challenge of getting out of her legal mess makes her aware that she does have a clever brain no matter how she's been manipulated to feel.
Excellent as Nora's independent thinking friend, Delphine Seyrig is the best part of this movie, directed by the very art house themed legend Joseph Losey. Warner is in so much domineering as just an absolute bore, and other male characters played by Edward Fox and Trevor Howard are just further archetypes of the male dominance of that era. Artistically, it is beautiful to look at, and the scenery and costumes are delicious.
The best moments are between Fonda and Seyrig. There are other actresses who were popular in the 1970's who would have been more right for the role of Nora, and it's not to say that Fonda was bad. Either Liv Ullman or Julie Christie, and maybe either Vanessa Redgrave or Maggie Smith, could have played Nora's eruption into Independence a lot more realistically. For Fonda, it's obvious that she's play acting rather than really becoming the character that she's been asked to portray.
That's not something that you associate with the very independent-minded Jane Fonda, appearing here in one of two versions of the play made that year, this one released for TV and looking like it should have been on PBS rather than the more mainstream networks. When she returns home with a large number of Christmas gifts, she must explain each of them to her husband, and he looks at her like a doll, one that is amusing but you put aside when you tire of it. The arrival of a recently divorced friend stirs up the independence in Nora, and the challenge of getting out of her legal mess makes her aware that she does have a clever brain no matter how she's been manipulated to feel.
Excellent as Nora's independent thinking friend, Delphine Seyrig is the best part of this movie, directed by the very art house themed legend Joseph Losey. Warner is in so much domineering as just an absolute bore, and other male characters played by Edward Fox and Trevor Howard are just further archetypes of the male dominance of that era. Artistically, it is beautiful to look at, and the scenery and costumes are delicious.
The best moments are between Fonda and Seyrig. There are other actresses who were popular in the 1970's who would have been more right for the role of Nora, and it's not to say that Fonda was bad. Either Liv Ullman or Julie Christie, and maybe either Vanessa Redgrave or Maggie Smith, could have played Nora's eruption into Independence a lot more realistically. For Fonda, it's obvious that she's play acting rather than really becoming the character that she's been asked to portray.