Jonathan Demme

A Master Builder

A Master Builder

Twenty years after their brilliant cinema-theater experiment Vanya on 42nd Street, Wallace Shawn and André Gregory reunited to produce another idiosyncratic film version of a classic play, this time Henrik Ibsen’s Bygmester Solness (Master Builder Solness). Brought pristinely to the screen by Jonathan Demme, this compellingly abstract reimagining features Shawn (who also wrote the adaptation) as a visionary but tyrannical middle-aged architect haunted by figures from his past, most acutely an attractive, vivacious young woman (the breathtaking newcomer Lisa Joyce) who has appeared on his doorstep. Also featuring standout supporting performances by Julie Hagerty, Larry Pine, and Gregory, A Master Builder, like Vanya, is the result of many years of rehearsals, a living, breathing, constantly shifting work that unites theater, film, and dream.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 2014
  • 127 minutes
  • Color
  • 2.35:1
  • English
  • Spine #762

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • High-definition digital master, supervised by director of photography Declan Quinn, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with director Jonathan Demme, stage director–actor André Gregory, and writer-actor Wallace Shawn, conducted by film critic David Edelstein
  • New conversation between actors Julie Hagerty and Lisa Joyce
  • New program featuring Gregory, Shawn, and their friend the author Fran Lebowitz in conversation
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Sragow

    New cover by Riccardo Vecchio

Purchase Options

Collector's Sets

Collector's Set

André Gregory & Wallace Shawn: 3 Films

André Gregory & Wallace Shawn: 3 Films

Blu-ray Box Set

3 Discs

$79.96

Collector's Set

André Gregory & Wallace Shawn: 3 Films

André Gregory & Wallace Shawn: 3 Films

DVD Box Set

5 Discs

$79.96

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • High-definition digital master, supervised by director of photography Declan Quinn, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with director Jonathan Demme, stage director–actor André Gregory, and writer-actor Wallace Shawn, conducted by film critic David Edelstein
  • New conversation between actors Julie Hagerty and Lisa Joyce
  • New program featuring Gregory, Shawn, and their friend the author Fran Lebowitz in conversation
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Sragow

    New cover by Riccardo Vecchio
A Master Builder
Cast
Wallace Shawn
Halvard Solness
Julie Hagerty
Aline Solness
Lisa Joyce
Hilde Wangel
Larry Pine
Dr. Herdal
André Gregory
Knut Brovik
Emily Cass McDonnell
Kaia Fosli
Jeff Biehl
Ragnar Brovik
Joanna Howard
Nurse Nora
Winsome Brown
Nurses
Marjorie Graham
Sheilagh Weymouth
Credits
Director
Jonathan Demme
Executive producers
Ronald M. Bozman
Executive producers
Beau Willimon
Executive producers
Jordan Tappis
Executive producers
Declan Quinn
Executive producers
Scott Griffin
Co-executive producers
Caroline Baron
Co-executive producers
Anthony Weintraub
Co-executive producers
Annette Solakoglu
Co-executive producers
Kemal Solakoglu
Produced by
Rocco Caruso
Produced by
André Gregory
Produced by
Wallace Shawn
Based on the play “Master Builder Solness” by
Henrik Ibsen
Translated by
Wallace Shawn
Created for the stage by
André Gregory
Screenplay
Wallace Shawn
Director of photography
Declan Quinn
Film editor
Tim Squyres
Production designer
Eugene Lee
Costumes
Dona Granata
Music
Zafer Tawil
Music
Thom O’Connor
Music
Suzana Peric

Current

André, Wally, and Fran
André, Wally, and Fran
For our release of A Master Builder, Jonathan Demme’s film of André Gregory and Wallace Shawn’s Henrik Ibsen adaptation, we turned to writer and New York culture maven Fran Lebowitz, a friend of Gregory and Shawn’s, to talk to the theater and …
A Master Builder: Ibsen in Nyack
A Master Builder: Ibsen in Nyack

From a shrewd adaptation by André Gregory and Wallace Shawn, Jonathan Demme fashions a visually inventive dreamscape out of an Ibsen classic.

By Michael Sragow