A Master Builder

This is a powerful adaptation of a great Ibsen play. And by "adaptation," I mean there's an interesting little spin that, while faithful to the original, gives this version a bit of a twist. I'm sure Ibsen would approve. But I can say no more about that without getting into spoilers.

Like everything written by Ibsen, this movie is dialogue-heavy. It's not for lovers of fast-moving flashy special effects or loud background music. You can't really watch it while surfing your cell phone; almost every line of dialogue teaches you more about the character and pushes the plot forward. Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn are both in this film - veterans of another dialogue-heavy film, "My Dinner With Andre." Every single member of the cast is very strong. "A Master Builder" is the first Ibsen play that I ever saw, forty years ago, and it got me hooked on Ibsen for life. Check this one out and see if it hooks you, too.

Wallace Shawn plays the role of Halvald Solness in this adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen play.

Shawn wrote the script. It was first staged by his friend and frequent collaborator Andre Gregory, and finally directed by Jonathan Demme for the screen. It is a portrait of peoples' misery and how a young visitor, Lisa Joyce, shakes things up. When it's a fascinating story, Demme seems uncertain of how to translate it for the screen. There are long close-ups of the performers, varied by moving the camera a bit. As a result, while it remains good, the visuals stop it from being a superior movie. Still worth a look.

A successful, ego-maniacal architect (Wallace Shawn) who has spent a lifetime bullying his wife, employees and mistresses wants to make peace as his life approaches its final act.

While this is a very good film, it must be stressed: this was originally a play, and it comes across very obviously as a play, even on film. The dialogue is dense, far more than your usual conversation. And the sets are minimal. Not sparse, but few... are there even six different rooms in the whole two hours? I feel like I have seen another version of this play done before (on film, not in person). But this probably is the defining version. Wallace Shawn is great, but really Lisa Joyce steals the show. In the few years this has been out, her career has moved along steadily, but she's not the big name she should be. Someone cast this woman in the right role!

Halvard Solness (Wallace Shawn) is a successful architect on his sick bed. Aline (Julie Hagerty) is his long suffering wife. He tells Dr. Herdal (Larry Pine) about how he kept his worker Ragnar Brovik (Jeff Biehl). He hired Ragnar's girlfriend Hilde Wangel (Lisa Joyce) to keep Ragnar working for him. Hilde comes over to visit Halvard. She reminds him about their first meeting ten years ago as a fourteen year old.

This is based on Henrik Ibsen's play. There is a weird unrealism by keeping all the Norwegian names. It's strange to see this exercise and a somewhat effective one. Lisa Joyce's overacting only adds to the otherworldly feel. Wallace Shawn is brilliant as always and keeps the audience's attention. Julie Hagerty does her most powerful work. It has tension from dancing on the edge of madness but it never escapes its play origins.

It's neat to see Jonathan Demme's direction of this, which was five years after the last feature film he made (Rachel Getting Married). It's still very good, as are his recent documentaries like My Cousin Bobby. You can tell this is a play adapted for the big screen but Wallace Shawn is amazing and as far as plays go you can't do much better than Ibsen. It's a great play and the adaption is good.