Movies – The Delphine Seyrig Project – Hedda Gabler (fr)

Delphine Seyrig in “Hedda Gabler.” credit: ebay.fr

1967 featured Delphine’s appearances in Accident and La Musica, but we also mentioned the television adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, one of the landmark works of early-20^th-century naturalism in world theater. (This is a link to a full video version, directed by the talented Raymond Rouleau, but, alas, it’s only in non-subtitled French.)

Hedda Gabler is the only daughter of the late, great General Gabler, a revered local military hero and widower, who left her a beautiful pair of pistols and, seemingly, not enough else. While considered quite a catch for well-to-do suitors, Hedda demurred in characteristically haughty fashion until that internal “spinster / old maid” alarm went off in her head and she chose George Tesman as her husband. A practical choice, Tesman is a well-regarded academic and a real nice guy, but Hedda quickly sours on Tesman’s dry, middle-class demeanor and his dowdy and pious elderly aunts. Returning from their honeymoon abroad to Christiania (now Oslo), which Tesman used as a research tour, they move into the spacious house that George has recently purchased. He could barely afford it, but Hedda admired it, and he got a bit of financial help from his good friend Judge Brack, another cagey and influential local dignitary. Tesman is in line for a good job as well – as a full-time professor at the local university. He’s putting the finishing touches on a manuscript he hopes to publish (“publish or perish…”) that will seal the deal, thanks to his recent honeymoon sabbatical.

Delphine Seyrig and Pascale de Boysson in “Hedda Gabler.” credit: ebay.fr

Coincidentally, another local acquaintance of the Tesmans’ pays a visit – Mrs. Thea Elvsted. Thea is an old schoolmate of Hedda’s, and may have been involved with George long ago. She took a position in the country as a governess to a local rural sheriff and his two children. When his wife passed away, Thea married him. As the kids got older, Thea hired Eilert Løvborg to tutor them. Eilert is a contemporary of George’s, quite brilliant, but he’d fallen into disgrace because of his nasty temperament, louche indulgences and drinking issues. Thea has sent congratulatory flowers along to George and Hedda upon their honeymoon return, but also brings news that Eilert has cleaned up impressively, is fully reformed, and has just published a well-received study himself. Thea wants to help Eilert re-ingratiate himself with the old crowd in the city, and stay sober, with the Tesmans’ assistance and blessing, but George and Hedda see him as competition for the university post. Judge Brack comes by for a visit as well, voicing his own concerns that Løvborg will throw a wrench into George’s ambitions. Since Judge Brack has extended so many favors to the Tesmans, he subtly but unmistakably warns then to keep their belts tight for the near future. In an extended dialogue with Hedda (the start of the play’s second of four acts), it’s obvious he’s intent on wielding considerable power over the Tesmans’ fates, and the fetching Hedda most specifically.

In the early evening, Judge Brack swings by to collect Tesman for a bachelors’ party the Judge is throwing. He’s also there because Eilert will be stopping by, to be joined by Mrs. Elvsted. Eilert seems great, clear-eyed and confident. He dismisses his recent book as a piece of fluff he knew everyone would like – the real deal is his newest book, and he’s brought along his manuscript of it along to run by Tesman. But, invited to Brack’s party, he declines, and chooses to stay there with Thea and Hedda. While Brack and George have drinks in the parlor, Hedda sows malicious disruption in the front room by assuring Thea that Eilert is capable of reforming, despite her numerous nervous doubts earlier in the day. This pokes Eilert’s thin pride and ego, and he recklessly toasts a sudden drink or two to Thea’s “high opinion” of him. He recovers, and apologizes to Thea, but he’s now emboldened to go to Brack’s party and show everyone he’s a new man. And the three of them strike out for the evening.

The results of the evening are predictably tragic. The real fabric of the play isn’t an inexorable march to disaster, but how, exactly, each of these people look to themselves and manipulate each other to gain their own advantages. George Tesman is as honest as the day is long, but Hedda, Judge Brack, and, to some extent even Thea, have no qualms about throwing others to the wolves if it benefits their own cause. Eilert Løvborg is an intriguing character at first glance, but his baser appetites appear close to the surface in surprisingly short time. He doesn’t have a chance against Hedda’s machinations, and is doomed to fail as one of Thea’s last hopes for redemption, his and her own. Judge Brack is as smooth a villain as any actor would want to portray, and if anyone “wins” the play’s war of attrition, it’s him.

Laurent Terzieff and Delphine Seyrig in “Hedda Gabler.” credit: picclick.fr

I watched a few different versions of the play – in our media-fevered DVD, TV and streaming days there are surprisingly few available. There’s a very good Ingrid Bergman from 1963, with Michael Redgrave (Tesman), Ralph Richardson (Brack) and Trevor Howard as Eilert on YouTube. YouTube also has Diana Rigg’s Hedda Gabler from 1981 – it’s in eleven parts there, but if you’re disposed to downloading, it’s not tough to find. (*Not An Endorsement…*). Alan Dobie’s Judge Brack there is noteworthy. Maddeningly, the best filmed version is the Glenda Jackson / Trevor Nunn Hedda from 1975. Jackson is superb, and received a Best Actress Oscar nomination, but no one has bothered to preserve it on DVD. There’s a smeary, gauzy VHS rip one can unearth on the internet, (YouTube, of course), but, trust me, it’s unwatchable. Nunn keeps things very theatrical – the interiors include obviously scene-painted trompe-l’oeil elements, and it was shot by the great Douglas Slocombe. It’s crying out for restoration.

Delphine’s portrayal is a bit calmer, quieter, more focused than the imperious-yet-elegant Bergman, the cagey and clever Rigg and the commanding Jackson. No less indulgently provocative, no less self-serving, Delphine’s Hedda is all about persuasion, and convincing others that her indulgences are all their idea – Pascale de Boysson’s Thea is consistently wary of Hedda, but plays along nonetheless. Laurent Terzieff is probably my favorite of the Eilerts, veering unpredictably between smooth charm, convincing self-possession, indignant disappointment and self-loathing despair. French speakers are avidly encouraged to check it out.