A Doll's House, filmed in 1973 by Patrick Garland and based on Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play, is a classic movie. Nora, Dr. Rank, and Torvald were the only characters that really stood out to me. Torvald somewhat confused me, but I had him pointed out by the end of the movie.
Nora, played by Claire Bloom, stood out to me in the movie as well as the book because of her unfortunate situation. She created the problem no matter how you look at it because of money. However, she was played like a fool by Torvald because he thought she was his possession. Nora did play a doll because she never loved Torvald (Anthony Hopkins). The only problem I see with this why would she have children with a man she did not love, let alone marry him? But then I regressed and thought that she had to do it because she had to get out of the "doll" house she was currently in with her father.
Nora throughout the movie was totally unpredictable. I did not know what she might do next. She had run into problems of trying to make everyone happy but herself. I understand why she told Torvald she had to think of herself at the end of the movie. Torvald was in utter disbelief when she told him how she really felt. She broke his heart, but she regained hers at the same time.
Dr. Rank (Ralph Richardson), on the other hand, was a man with a mission. He loved Nora so much that he could not hold it in any longer and finally told her. Nora, the common housewife, had such passion towards others that everyone liked her. This is not uncommon and never will be.
The whole story revolved around Krogstad's (Denholm Eliot) blackmailing Nora to keep his job in the bank and her trying to make everyone happy. This kept her from being truthful about the money situation she was in because she had borrowed money from Krogstad years ago, while forging her dead father's signature to save Torvald's life, and allowed Torvald to run over her, not that he was not already anyway.
I was glad to see Nora finally think of herself when she decided to leave Torvald. The only problem I had with this ending was the way she left Torvald. Although she no longer loved him, she called him a stranger. I know neither Torvald or Nora knew each other, but to call someone a stranger who she lived with, dined with, slept with, and had children with is just crazy. She had me happy when she said she did not love him and was treated like a doll in a dollhouse, but left me thinking of her as a bitch when she called him a stranger.
Although I do not necessarily agree with what she did, she was still my favorite character and was portrayed quite wonderfully. In my eyes she is a great protagonist who dealt with her fair share of inequality.