$12 General Admission, $9 Member, $7 child age 14 or younger
Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening Buy tickets at Film Center or online now
The artistic triumvirate of Jonathan Demme, André Gregory, and Wallace Shawn update Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder, a modern classic about a successful, egomaniacal architect who has spent a lifetime bullying his wife, employees and mistresses – who nonetheless wants to make peace with himself as his life approaches its final act. 
Working from his own translation of the Norwegian text, Wallace Shawn gives a tour-de-force performance as the cruel, yet guilt-ridden architect. Jonathan Demme’sdirection is based on the near-legendary production created for the stage by André Gregory, developed over a 14-year period. Lisa Joyce plays a sensual, mysterious young visitor who turns the household upside down, much to the consternation of Julie Hagerty, perfectly cast as Shawn’s neurasthenic, long-suffering wife. Scandinavian angst — reinterpreted by New York’s finest. 
“For a movie that lasts longer than two hours and is made up solely of talking, it’s impressive that the story never seems to drag”.
–Stephanie Merry, Washington Post
“There is muscle and volume in the performances; but had Demme hung back, and kept things cooler and quieter, the mastery of what Ibsen built, and the agon of his extraordinary hero, would have cast a more looming shadow.”
–Anthony Lane, New Yorker
“Shawn veers away from his usual nebbishy persona here and skillfully suggests a master manipulator and shrewdly controlling womanizer driven by insecurities and guilt.”
–Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
