The opening of the play “Hedda Gabler” in both the film version and the written version were very similar. For the most part, the film kept much of the dialogue the same – borderline exact – as Henrik Ibsen had it. There were a few small parts that were omitted from the film version, like the part when Juliana Tesman (Aunt Julie) comments about the furniture having no slipcovers. Though it was a small part, it had affected how I first viewed Aunt Julie. In the written version, upon seeing the furniture had no covers, she had said to Berta (the maid) “What’s this now? Why have you taken all the slipcovers off the furniture?…Are they going to use this as their everyday living room?” Here she came across somewhat judgmental. There was an air of disapproval about her. Yet watching her in the film, I didn’t get any impression of that sort – instead she seemed extremely kind and caring and likeable, going out of her way to try and impress Hedda. Had I not seen how she acted in the film, there would have been a part of me that sympathized with Hedda because Aunt Julie had at first appeared critical of her.
Another way that the film was different was in how Hedda was portrayed. It wasn’t that she was portrayed any differently in the written version vs in the film – she still had the same arrogance, the same cold, unlikeable exterior. But in the film, it was a lot more embellished, which I think really helped add to how Ibsen wanted her character represented. For example, in the very beginning when Hedda wakes up and comes downstairs to where her husband and Aunt Julie are waiting, the written part describes her first encounter as her “entering from the left side of the inner room” and “extending her hand” to Aunt Julie. However, in the film version, we see Hedda come down the stairs, see Aunt Julie, and turn as if to walk away and completely avoid her. Aunt Julie catches sight of her, which is when she is almost forced to come in and greet her. Just the little things like that made Hedda’s true character become even more evident to me as the viewer, and added more dimension to her personality.