{"id":32025,"date":"2025-10-27T22:47:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T02:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32025"},"modified":"2025-10-31T22:11:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T02:11:36","slug":"hedda-is-nia-dacostas-hyperbolic-adaptation-of-ibsens-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32025","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Hedda\u2019 Is Nia DaCosta\u2019s Hyperbolic Adaptation of Ibsen\u2019s Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

The film written and directed by Nia DaCosta reimagines the play by Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler<\/i>. Just like the Norwegian stage drama, the film portrays the experiences of the daughter of a general, who is trapped in a marriage and a house that she does not want. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hedda<\/i><\/b> <\/i>shows the titular character, played by Tessa Thompson, navigate the social engagements of the vast estate of her new husband, the academic George Tesman (Tom Bateman). The story unfolds as they organise a lavish party in the attempt to climb the social ladder of their unyielding aristocratic circle, to allow Hedda\u2019s husband to secure the prestigious professorship he\u2019s vying for. The challenge becomes more demanding when the rival for the post turns out to be Eileen Lovborg (Nina Hoss), Hedda\u2019s former lover, who is currently in a relationship with Thea (Imogen Poots). The former Miss Gabler, now Mrs Tesman, will enact a diabolical plan to ensure her husband\u2019s position. Hedda Gabler\u2019s thirst for control, within the confines of her property, transpires also when she interacts with the character of Judge Roland Brack (Nicholas Pinnock).<\/span><\/p>\n

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In this screen adaptation, Nia DaCosta preserves the ruthlessness of Ibsen\u2019s careerist and manipulative woman. However, the film director takes artistic license in changing several elements of the original story, to modernise it. For instance, the setting is changed from 19<\/span>th <\/sup><\/span>century Oslo to 20<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century England. There is also the gender swap of the character Hedda wants to neutralise: Eilert L\u00f6vborg becomes Eileen. These variations, along with having Hedda played by a woman of colour, fit the story very well. But they do not compensate a mise-en-sc\u00e8ne that pushes to a Manichean depiction of its Lady Macbeth-like protagonist. Hedda is pure evil, she uses sexuality, power games and sharp wit to pursue what she wants. She has no compassion. Hedda embodies the stereotype of the monster, and does not display facets that make her a more complex and fascinating character. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hedda\u2019s self-affirmation is shown through her despicable actions and by the way she unabashedly handles her late father\u2019s collection of pistols. Hedda shows an imposing model of violent control that is usually associated with toxic masculinity, and she doesn\u2019t carry out her devising traps and subterfuges to assert her gender, but rather to destroy any being who can constitute a hurdle to her ultimate goal. This is why Hedda<\/i><\/b> does not come across as a feminist manifesto, but rather as a celebration of the Tradwife. This 21<\/span>st <\/sup><\/span>century Hedda plots Machiavellian schemes to help her husband\u2019s career, to the point of pushing another woman to take her own life.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/ins>\n

Throughout the film, Tessa Thompson\u2019s performance leads the way, as the rest of the talented cast seems a mere adornment to her return to the scene with Nia DaCosta \u2014 who chose her for her directorial debut with the 2018 film Little Woods<\/b>. Besides Tom Bateman, Nicholas Pinnock, Nina Hoss and Imogen Poots, Hedda<\/i><\/b>\u2019s social milieu is brought to life also by the characters of Professor Greenwood (Finbar Lynch) and his wife Tabitha (Mirren Mack), who makes no secret of her voluptuous appetites when it comes to David (Jamael Westman).<\/span><\/p>\n

This debauched and decadent society gets its social commentary through Bertie, an estate cook played by <\/i>Kathryn Hunter, who almost in a decontextualised soliloquy verbalises the inconsistencies, oddities, and vices of those she has served during her life. This is the instant in which audiences can perceive the Norwegian playwright’s critical approach to the bourgeoisie and its inherent contradictions, that are conveyed in the cinematic adaptation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In terms of the look of the film, Sean Bobbit\u2019s cinematography paints an atmosphere of murder-mystery, that enhances Cara Brower\u2019s production design from the Fifties and the Art Deco period. Lindsay Pugh\u2019s costumes add glamour to the visuals of the narrative, that acquires an eerie vibe with the wildly percussive rhythm of Hildur Ingveldard\u00f3ttir Gu\u00f0nad\u00f3ttir\u2019s music.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The extravaganza displayed in this modernisation of Henrik Ibsen\u2019s play rewrites the avouchment of a dysfunctional ego. Yet, the changes that align with topics of our era make viewers wonder whether they make the revamped oeuvre a work of inclusivity or of tokenism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Grade: B-<\/span><\/p>\n

Photos credits: IMDb<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Check out more of Chiara\u2019s articles<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n