Although
the adjective fearless often gets
attached to actresses who play dark or uninhibited roles, perhaps no mainstream
performer has so consistently earned that description than Glenda Jackson did
during her heyday from the late ’60s to the early ’80s. (She continued acting, often in fine projects, through
the early ’90s before shifting to a political career.) For some projects,
particularly those directed by frequent collaborator Ken Russell, Jackson
descended so far into psychosexual darkness as to become feral. Similarly, in
films such as this Royal Shakespeare Company production of Henrik Ibsen’s 1891
play Hedda Gabler, Jackson ignored
the conventional impulse to engender audience goodwill. When Jackson essayed
monsters, as she does here, she did so to spectacular effect.
To be fair,
calling Ibsen’s complex protagonist Hedda Gabler a monster isn’t exactly
correct; while much of what she does is borderline sociopathic, Ibsen ensures
that we see what drives her. So does Trevor Nunn, the writer-director of this
intense adaptation. Casting the story in an amber glow that counters the ice
surrounding Hedda’s twisted heart, Nunn employs intimate compositions that
either trap characters together uncomfortably or reveal the distance
(metaphorical and physical) between them. Nunn’s film is precise and
unflinching, just like Jackson’s explosive leading performance.
Summarizing the
plot does little justice to the grim textures of Ibsen’s narrative, but the
broad strokes are as follows. Although Hedda (Jackson) is married to Jorgen
(Peter Eyre), a socially inept intellectual of marginal promise, she cruelly
flirts with Judge Brack (Timothy West), who wants to have an affair with her.
Enter Hedda’s simple friend, Thea (Jennie Linden), who is involved with another
intellectual, Eijert (Patrick Stewart—with hair!). Long ago, he and Hedda were
lovers, and they still have a dangerous bond. As the story
progresses, Hedda identifies which characters are obstacles to her dreams of a
comfortable lifestyle, then sets in motion a horrific chain of events.
Just as
none would mistake Hedda Gabler for
safe classical theater, none would
mistake Hedda for a stodgy stage
adaptation. Lurking inside the ornate language and posh costume designs is
something truly malignant, a skillful exploration of the million ways people
hurt each other. Burning at
the center of thing is a remarkable character brought to frightening life by an extraordinary performer. Even when she goes big with a gesture or a monologue,
Jackson finds truth in Hedda’s grasping for power—and in her startling realizations of
powerlessness. So even though everyone around her does fine work, especially
Nunn, this experience is all about the portrayal that earned Jackson, as of
this writing, the final of her four Oscar nominations for Best Actress in a
Leading Role.
Hedda: GROOVY
