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.
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.
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]
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