Kingsley, Malone, Sands to star in A DOLL'S HOUSE film

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/156184-Ben-Kingsley-Jena-Malone-Julian-Sands-Cast-in-A-Dolls-House-Film-Adaptation

And apparently they're adding a male character. Since it's Hollywood, one would assume this is a love interest for Nora. Which is completely idiotic.

*shakes head*

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Nope, Mrs. Linde.

Curious to see who tackles Nora. Would've liked to have seen Nicole Kidman give this a go at some point, but she's a bit old to be opposite Malone...

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I don't know Michele Martin. It's interesting to think whom else they might have cast. So many interesting choices. My first would have been Chloe Sevigny. Carey Mulligan might have been great. Melanie Laurent an intersting choice. I'd also like to see what Keira Knightley would do with Nora; she's radiant when she's silly, as Nora would require, and which I've only seen from her when being interviewed. She's generally quite grave on screen. Of course, Michelle Williams! Rebecca Hall!!!

I like Malone and Kingsley for Kristine and Rank. Ewan Macgregor or Alexander Skarsgard for Torvald?

Peter Sarsgard would make an excellent Krogstad.

Updated On: 11/3/11 at 12:59 PM

and, of course, we need a 21st century Hollywood tagline:

Sometimes a gal just has to know when to shut a door.

Or a contemporary ending:

The door SLAMS.

Torald:

The most wonderful thing in the world?

Torvald shrugs, bemused.

Ext. Doorway - Night

Nora breathes in the cold night air.

INSERT

Torvald's photo appears on Nora's i-phone as her slender finger clicks DELETE.

FADE OUT.

A modern day adaptation? That makes no sense to me. The story is significant because of the period in which it was written/takes place. A woman leaving her husband in 2011 isn't that interesting.

What WOULD be interesting is if they combined this with the SAW franchise. Nora can leave at the end with Torvald's head in a box.

"A modern day adaptation? That makes no sense to me. The story is significant because of the period in which it was written/takes place. A woman leaving her husband in 2011 isn't that interesting."

Playing devil's advocate, mostly just for sport...

By setting A Doll House now, thereby minimizing the groundbreaking drama of its climax, the deeper stuff of the play might have to come through (if it can be well executed): the extreme challenges any two people have in accepting each other for who they really are, rather than insisting on the partners they expect each other to be.

And whether this most wonderful thing in the world is achievable.

Something might definitely be lost, but there might be something gained as well.

* * *

I know, I know. It's unlikely. But it might be worth trying.

The biggest red flag is Julian Sands. I've been leery of anything he's in since 1987.

By setting A Doll House now, thereby minimizing the groundbreaking drama of its climax, the deeper stuff of the play might have to come through (if it can be well executed): the extreme challenges any two people have in accepting each other for who they really are, rather than insisting on the partners they expect each other to be.

Nothing fresh or new in that idea, either. What makes A Doll's House still work is the understanding that the period itself is the sole catalyst for any sense of drama or tension in the story. If there was anything to be mined in a woman's lack of position, voice, identity or power in a modern-day marriage, it was most recently napalmed by Kim Kardashian. I can't think of any response to Nora's dilemma today that wouldn't result in somethin akin to, "Why doesn't the stupid bitch just dump his ass?"

Unless the underlying goal is to pilot the series The Real Housewives of Oslo.

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LOL at "The Real Housewives of Oslo."

There's an interesting modern analysis of the play on Tvtropes that posits it less as about a woman's place in marriage, and more as the tale of a man who married the quintessential "manic pixie dream girl" designed especially for him, and of the slow realization on both their parts that she is not necessarily that at all.

Now THERE'S a movie I wouldn't mind seeing. But "A Dolls House?" It's been done, so many times!

I really don't see this working even a little in a modern setting. It will be as ridiculous as the recent remake of The Women.