The second version of the Henrik Ibsen classic to hit the screens in 1973, Joseph Losey’s location-filmed (Norway) effort has the director’s name plus that of Jane Fonda (playing the woman’s lib pre-dating heroine, Nora) and a certain formal elegance to carry it.
Ironically, it is Fonda who appears miscast as the Ibsen heroine who dominates this Nordic drama, lacking as she does the vibrancy, depth and soul required to convey the transition of a fascinating character. The result, to all but Fonda die-hards, blurs the values of the film as a whole.
This is otherwise a rather striking if academic achievement: physically stunning, diligently acted, told in a linear style by a man who knows his cinema, unexcitingly effective here and there.
