Transplanted to mid-century England, Candyman director Nia DaCosta’s bold reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s play features a magnetic lead performance from Tessa Thompson (Passing) in a fresh, feminist game of power.
Friday, September 12: This film will be presented with open captions, but please note, ASL interpretation will not be available for the live onstage elements of the screening.
Transplanted to mid-century England, this ingenious reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s beloved play from writer-director Nia DaCosta (2021’s Candyman) infuses its source material with fresh, feminist power and energy. Starring Tessa Thompson (Passing), Imogen Poots (TIFF ’15’s Green Room), and Christian Petzold regular Nina Hoss, Hedda is an original work of cinematic invention.
Newly wed and precariously dissatisfied with life, Hedda (Thompson), gun-loving daughter of the late General Gabler, has convinced her husband George (Tom Bateman), a timid but ambitious scholar, to throw a lavish party the couple cannot afford. On the teeming guest list is Eileen Lovborg (Hoss), a celebrated author of a book exploring sexuality — and George’s key rival for a coveted academic post. Hedda sees the guests as pawns in an elaborate game she plans to orchestrate with ruthless precision.
Sumptuously photographed by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (TIFF ’13 People’s Choice Award winner 12 Years a Slave), and featuring exquisitely detailed production design from Cara Brower, Hedda ushers us headlong into a milieu of decadence and deception. At the centre of it all is Thompson’s magnetic performance as our single-minded, hedonistic heroine, a woman trapped within the confines of social decorum she cannot help but set fire to.
ANITA LEE
Screenings
VISA Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre
Scotiabank 2
Scotiabank 3
Scotiabank 1
Scotiabank 10