Hedda Gabler

Hedda Gabler, the spoiled daughter of a general, marries the staid scholar Tesman in the hope that he will develop into an important personality. But Hedda is an eccentric woman and her expectations of life are insatiable. She has no sympathy for her husband's work and quickly becomes bored in her petty bourgeois circumstances. Then Ejlert Lövberg, a colleague of her husband's, returns to the city he left because of his dissolute lifestyle. They have known each other since those days, but Hedda feared a scandal if she had returned his passionate love. Ejlert is rehabilitated thanks to Thea, the woman at his side. But Hedda's love for him reawakens and, driven by her nature to determine the fate of other people, she drives Ejlert to disaster.

Directed by Thomas Langhoff, Hedda Gabler leans on a strong ensemble — Jutta Hoffmann, Jörg Gudzuhn, Monika Lennartz — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1980.