Do not get me wrong; I am a huge fan of classic films. Some of my favorites are Casablanca, A Streetcar Named Desire, All About Eve, The Maltese Falcon, among many others. But I do think I can put A Doll’s House, filmed in 1973 by Joseph Losey and Patrick Garland), in my favorites list; much less call it a true classic film. Based on Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House has a very simple story in which absolutely nothing happens. I was so bored with this movie. I either wanted it to end or something to happen to at least one of the characters: Nora (Jane Fonda/ Claire Bloom), Torvald (David Warner/ Anthony Hopkins), Krogstad (Edward Fox/ Denholm Eliot).
I also thought the characters were too simple. There was no character growth, and that may because Ibsen did not allow for his characters to have anything to grow towards. For starters, Torvald is a just a stuck-up prick who only cares about making his way up the ladder at the bank. He obviously does care about his wife, Nora. Not once did I see any love in his eyes towards her. So why is he married to her? She is obviously not giving him anything.
Nora, poor thing; I think once loved Torvald. But now, I think she just wants some sort of attention. Even though she does not get very much of that from Torvald, she still continues to seek it from him, but Torvald usually just seems annoyed with her. I think Ibsen could have done something with Nils’s character. I was thinking the whole time that Nora and Nils were going to fall in love and have an affair. But Nils was just another dull character that took up space on the screen.
Nora has years earlier committed a forgery in order to save the life of her authoritarian husband. Now she is being blackmailed in fear of her husband's finding out and of the shame such a revelation would bring to his career. But when the truth comes out, Nora is shocked to learn where she really stands in her husband's esteem.