but i had to see to the other beast first, you know, the demoniac one, our friend molvik. and then i fell right off to sleep. well, what's hjalmar got to say for himself today? he doesn't say anything. hasn't he said anything at all? not a blessed word. i know. i understand that so well. what's he doing with himself then? well, he's lying on the sofa, snoring. oh, is he? yes, hjalmar's pretty good at snoring. is he asleep? can he really sleep? well, it certainly looks like it. quite understandable, torn as he was by the conflict in his soul. and him not used to late nights. perhaps it's best for him to get some sleep, mother. yes, that's what i was thinking. there's no point in waking him up too soon. thanks, relling. well, i'll just get the house tidied up first, and then... come and help me, will you, hedvig?

have you any views on the spiritual turmoil going on in hjalmar ekdal? i'm damned if i can see any spiritual turmoil going on in him. what? in a crisis like this when his whole life has been put on a completely new basis? how do you suppose a personality like hjalmar's-- personality? him? he never showed any signs of anything as abnormal as a personality. it was all thoroughly cleared out of him, root and branch, when he was still a lad. that i can assure you. that would seem very strange after being brought up with such affectionate care as he was. by those two crazy, hysterical maiden aunts of his, you mean? let me tell you, they were women who never shut their eyes to the claim of the ideal. they were-- i see. you're just trying to be funny again. no. no, no, no, no. i'm in no mood for that. besides, i know all about it, the amount of rhetoric he's brought up about these two soul mothers of his.

but i don't think he has much to thank them for. ekdal's misfortune is that in his own little circle he's always been considered a shining light. and don't you think he is? deep down within, i mean. well, i've never seen any sign of it. whether his father thought so, it could well be. the dear lieutenant's always been a bit of a blockhead. he's always been a man with the spirit of a child. that's what you don't understand. yes. yes, yes. all right. all right then. when our dear sweet little hjalmar began as a student of sorts, he was immediately regarded by his fellow students as a man with a brilliant future. he was handsome and quite captivating, pink and white, the sort all the girls fall for, and because he was the sentimental kind and there was something appealing in his voice, and because he learned the knack of reciting other people's verses and other people's ideas-- is this hjalmar ekdal you're talking about? yes, it is, with your permission. that's the inside view of this little demigod you're groveling to. i wouldn't have said i was as completely blind as all that. oh, yes, you are. pretty well, anyway. you see, you are a sick man too.

you're right there. well, then, in your case there are complications, first around these troublesome inflamed scruples. but then there's something much worse. you're subject to serious fits of hero-worship. you always got to go around finding something to admire that's not really any of your business. i must indeed look for something beyond my own self. i mean, you go and make such tremendous blunders about these wonderful beings you imagine you see and hear around you. and now you're at it again, coming to another laborer's cottage with that, ugh, claim of the ideal. there just aren't any solvent people living here. if you haven't any higher opinion of hjalmar ekdal than that, i wonder you find any pleasure at all in being able to last in his company. oh, god. i'm supposed to be a doctor of sorts, and i have to do something about looking after the sick who are living in the same house as me? poor things. really? is hjalmar sick too? pretty nearly everybody is sick, unfortunately. what treatment you are giving him? the usual. i try to keep his life lie going.

life lie? i don't think i quite caught-- that's right. that's what i said, the life lie. you see, the life lie is the stimulating principle. oh, may i ask what particular life lie hjalmar has been inoculated with? no, you may not. i don't give secrets like that away to quacks. you'd be in a position to mess him up even worse for me. but it's a tried and effective method. i've used it on molvik as well. i've made him a demoniac. that's the particular cure i had to apply to him. isn't he a demoniac? what? what the devil do you think being a demoniac means? just a bit of silly nonsense i thought up to keep him alive. if i hadn't done that, the poor devil would have succumbed to mortification and despair years ago, same as the old lieutenant there, though he's managed to find his own course of treatment. lieutenant ekdal? what about him? well, what do you think? him, the great bear hunter, shooting rabbits there in the loft?

but there isn't a happier sportsman in the world than that old man when he gets a chance at raking around in there among all the rubbish. he's collected up four or five withered old christmas trees, and there's no difference for him between them and the whole tremendous living forest of hoidal. the cocks and hens and the game birds in the treetops and the rabbits hopping about the floor, they are the bears that this intrepid he-man goes in pursuit of. poor old unhappy lieutenant ekdal. he certainly has had to relinquish a lot of his youthful ideals. while i remember, mr. werle jr., don't use that fancy word, ideals. we got a plain word that's good enough: lies. you're saying the two things are related? yeah. not unlike typhus and putrid fever. dr. relling, i shall not rest until i have rescued hjalmar ekdal from your clutches. so much the worse for him. take away the life lie from the average man, and you take away his happiness, hmm?

well now, my little wild duck mother, i'll pop down now and see if that father of yours is still lying there, thinking about his wonderful invention. i can see from your face nothing's been done. what? oh, the wild duck? no. your courage failed you, i imagine, at the last moment. no, it wasn't that. just when i woke up early this morning and remembered what we talked about, it all seemed so strange. strange? yes, i don't know. last night, when i first heard it, it seemed such a good idea. but when i thought about it again after i had slept on it, it didn't seem so good after all. no, no, no. you could hardly be expected to grow up here without being the worse for it in some way. oh, what do i care? if only daddy would come back. if only you had your eyes open to what really makes life worthwhile, if you had that genuine, joyous,

courageous spirit of self-sacrifice, then you'd see how quickly he'd come back to you. but i still have faith in you, hedvig. [clattering at door] hedvig! thank you. oh, it's not much fun going for your morning walk by yourself. didn't you fancy going shooting, grandfather? no, it's not the weather for it. it's too dark. i can't see anything. don't you ever feel like shooting anything besides rabbits? why? aren't rabbits good enough then, eh? i mean, what about the wild duck? oh, you're afraid i'll shoot your wild duck.

no, not for the world, my dear. i will not do that. i daresay you couldn't. it's supposed to be very difficult to shoot wild duck. couldn't? i bet you i jolly well could. i don't mean with my wild duck, but with others. how would you set about it, grandfather? well, i should try to shoot it in the breast. that's the best way. but against the lie of the feathers, not with the feathers. do they die then? they certainly do if you shoot them properly. well, i better go and tidy myself up a bit. you see, i...

don't go upsetting your father's things, hedvig. i was just tidying up a little bit. well, go and reheat up the coffee pot. i'll take a tray of something down with me when i go. ah, so you've come back then, hjalmar? i've come, but i'm leaving again at once. yes. well, i suppose that's all right. but, lord, you do look a sight. a sight? look what you've done to your good winter coat.

mother, shall i put it--daddy. - get away. get away. - daddy. take her away from me, i tell you. go into the living room, hedvig. has anybody seen my books? i shall need my books. what books? the scientific works, of course. the technical periodicals i use for the invention. are these unbound ones them? of course they are. shouldn't i get hedvig to cut the pages for you? i don't need any cutting doing. so you haven't changed your mind about moving out and leaving us then, hjalmar? i should have thought that was pretty evident. stay on here, having the knife twisted in my heart

every hour of the day. god forgive you for thinking so badly of me. prove to me that you-- i think it's for you to prove. with a past like yours? there are certain claims. one might be tempted to call them the claims of the ideal. what about grandfather? what's to be done with him, poor old fellow? i know my duty. the helpless old man's to come along with me. we shall go to town, and the necessary arrangements will have to be made. has anybody seen my hat on the stairs? no. have you lost your hat? well, i had it on when i came back last night. i haven't been able to find it again today. lord. wherever did you land up with those two old soaks? oh, don't question me about things that don't matter. do you think i'm in a mood to remember details? well, as long as you haven't caught cold then, hjalmar. you're a blackguard, relling. nothing but a scoundrel, a shameless rake. i'd like to get somebody to do you in.

here's just a drop of something to warm you up, if you can fancy it, and some bread and some cold meat. meat? never again under this roof. i don't care if i haven't had a bite for 24 hours. my notes, the start of my autobiography. now, where's my diary and my more important possessions? there she is again. for heavens above, the poor child must be somewhere. come out. if i am to spend my last moments in what was once my home, i wish to remain undisturbed by those who have no business to be here. does he mean me?

stay in the kitchen, hedvig, or no, go into your own room. oh, just a minute, hjalmar. don't go upsetting those things in the chest of drawers. i know where everything is. if you want to be useful, get the valise down. wild duck. well, stop upsetting everything there. i've been looking for my-- well, they were always kept in the drawer. now, just stop throwing everything out. that's not going to be any good. that old valise is no use. i've got a thousands things to hump away. well, leave the other things for the time being and just take your shirts and a pair of pants with you for now. whew, all these exhausting preparations. yes. and your coffee's getting cold. ah. of course, your worse job now will be finding another loft

big enough for the rabbits. what? have i got to drag all those rabbits - along with me as well? - oh, yes. you know grandfather couldn't live without his rabbits. oh, damn. i'll have to get used to the idea. there are more important matters in life than rabbits that i'm having to do without. shall i put your flute in the valise? no. i don't want any flute. but give me the pistol. you want to take that pistol? yes, my loaded pistol. it's gone. he must have taken it in with him. is he in the loft? oh, yes. he's bound to be. poor lonely old fellow. if only we haven't let that other room, you could have moved in there. me? under the same roof as-- oh, never. never. well, couldn't you shake down for a day or two in the living room? i mean, you could be all on your own in there.

never again within these walls. well, what about going in with relling and molvik then? i don't want to hear their names. the very thought of them puts me off my food, nearly. oh, no. i must out into the cold and the snow, going from house to house, seeking shelter for my father and myself. but, hjalmar, you've lost your hat. you've lost your hat, remember? oh, the scum. can't trust them with anything. oh, i shall have to get a new hat on my way. i shall go to town and the necessary arrangements will have to be made. - what are you looking for? - butter. oh, i'll get it straight away. oh, it doesn't matter. i can just as well eat it dry. there you are now, hjalmar. it's supposed to be freshly churned.

could i, without being disturbed by anybody, anybody at all, that is, be able to move into the living room for a day or two? well, you could very nicely, and for as long as you wanted to. because i don't see much likelihood of moving old father's things out of here very fast. there's something else as well. you've got to tell him first that you don't want to live with the rest of us any longer. yes. that's another thing. all these complicated arrangements to be revised. i must consider things. i must take a breathing space. i mean, i can't take on all these burdens in one single day. no, and with the weather so awful on top of everything else. i see there's bit of papers are still lying around here. oh, well, i've got many use for it. not that these bit of papers anything to do with me. well, i'm not gonna touch it. but there's no point in letting it get destroyed in all the upset when i move.

it could so easily... well, i'll take care of it then, hjalmar. oh, but that belongs in the first place to father and it'll be up to him to decide whether or not he wishes to make use of it. poor old father. just to be on safe side, where can i find some paste? here's the paste pot. and a brush? here's the brush. just needs a strip of paper on the back. far be it from me to lay hands on anybody else's property, least of all on a penniless old man's or on the other person's either, for that matter. here we are. and just let it lie there for the present. and when it's dry, put it away. i never want to see the document again, never.

oh. here you are, hjalmar. i had sunk down from exhaustion. i see you had some breakfast. the body too makes known its demands on us at times. what have you decided to do? for a man like me, there is but one way open. i am in the process now of putting together my more important possessions. but it takes time, you understand? shall i get the room ready or shall i pack the valise? pack, and get the room ready. all right. i'll just put in a shirt and one or two other things. i would never have thought that it would end like this. is it really essential that you should leave house and home? what do you expect me to do then? i'm not made for unhappiness, gregers. everything around me must be nice and secure and peaceful. can't that be done? try. to my mind, you have a firm foundation to build on. just begin at the beginning.

remember, you have your invention to look forward to. oh, shut up about that invention. that's probably pretty far away. - really? - good lord. what do you expect me to invent? i mean, practically everything has been invented already by other people. it gets more and more difficult every day. after you put such a lot of work into it? it was that devil relling who first put me up to it. - relling? - yes. he was the one who first gave me impression that i was capable of inventing something special in photography. aha. it was relling. the things made me intensely happy, not so much because of the invention itself but because hedvig believed in it, believed in it with all the passion of a child. that is to say that i, like a fool, went and imagined that she believed in it. and you really suppose that hedvig went out of her way to deceive you?

how do i know? i'm ready to believe anything now. hedvig's the stumbling block now. she'll finish up taking all the sunshine out of my life. hedvig? do you mean hedvig? oh, she'd never do such a thing. i can't tell you how much i love that child. i can't tell you how happy i felt every time i came home to my modest little room and she'd come running across to me with her poor, sweet, strained little eyes. oh, gullible fool that i was. i was so inexpressibly fond of her and i deluded myself that she was equally fond of me too. can you say that was merely delusion? how do i know? i can't get anything out of gina. and anyway, she has absolutely no understanding of the element of idealism in this situation. but i feel the need to unburden myself to you, gregers. there's this terrible uncertainty that perhaps hedvig never really loved me at all.

oh, that is something you might well get proof of. - oh. - what's that? i thought i heard the wild duck cry. that's the wild duck quacking. father's in the loft. is he? what i was saying was that you might as well get proof that poor misunderstood hedvig does love you. suppose those others came to her with their hands full and they cried to the child, "hedvig, come away from him. with us, life is at your feet." well, what then do you suppose, hmm? and i then said to her, "hedvig, are you willing to give up this life for my sake?" oh, yes, i must say you'd soon hear the sort of answer i'd get. [gunshot] hjalmar. look at that now. he must go shooting. hjalmar, grandfather's shooting by himself in the loft again. i'll look in. no, no. no, no. wait a minute. do you know what that was? of course i know what that was. no, you don't. but i do. that was the proof. what proof?

that was the child's sacrifice. she's got your father to shoot the wild duck. shoot the wild duck? why? she wanted to sacrifice the most precious thing she had in the world for your sake. she thought, that way, you couldn't help loving her again. oh, that child. the things she thinks of. all she wanted was that you should love her again, hjalmar. she didn't think she could live without that. there you are. you see, hjalmar? where is she, gina? sitting out in the kitchen, i expect. oh. hedvig, come out. come to me. oh, she's not there. well, then she must be in her own little room. - no, she's not there. - she must have gone out. well, you wouldn't have her anywhere in the house. oh, i hope she comes back soon so as i can tell her properly. everything is gonna be all right, gregers. i really do believe we can start life all over again. i knew it. i knew redemption would come through the child.

father. father, what are you doing in there? have you been shooting in your room, father? why did you go shooting alone, hjalmar? was it you who fired that shot in the loft? shooting? me? she shot the wild duck herself. - what's this? - dear god. hedvig. she's lying on the floor! hedvig! oh, no, no! she's gone shooting, too, has she? the pistol's gone off. she's been shot. call for help. help! relling! relling! dr. relling, come over as fast as you can. the forest's revenge. she'll come around soon. she'll come around. yes. yes. where has she been shot? i can't see anything. what's going on here? they say hedvig has shot herself. come here and help us. shot herself? it can't be anything serious, eh, relling? she's hardly bleeding. it can't be anything serious.

- how did this happen? - oh, how do i know? she wanted to shoot the wild duck. the wild duck? mmm, the pistol must have gone off. indeed. revenge of the forest. still, i'm not afraid. relling? why don't you say something? the bullet hit her in the breast. but she'll come round. can't you see? hedvig is dead. oh, my poor little one. on the bed of the ocean. no. no. she must live, for god's sake, relling, just for a moment, long enough for me to tell her how infinitely i loved her all the time. she was hit in the heart. internal hemorrhage. she died instantaneously. and i drove her from me like some animal,

and in terror she crept into the loft and died for love of me. i shall never be able to make it up to her, never be able to tell her-- o god on high, if thou art there, why hast thou done this to me? hjalmar, you mustn't say such dreadful things. i daresay we didn't deserve to keep her. the child is not dead, but sleepeth. shut up. rubbish. there she lies, stiff and still. it's so tight, so tight. please, relling, you mustn't hurt her fingers. let the pistol lie there. she can take it with her. she mustn't lie out here in front of everybody.

she should go into her own little room. help me with her, hjalmar. oh, gina. can you bear this? we must help one another. now she's as much yours as mine, isn't she? praised be the lord. earth to earth, earth to earth. shut up, molvik. you're drunk. nobody is ever going to persuade me this was an accident. nobody can say how this dreadful thing happened. there was a powder burn on her dress. she must have pressed the pistol right against her breast

and fired. hedvig has not died in vain. didn't you see how grief brought out all that was noblest in him? most people feel some nobility when they stand grieving in the presence of death. but how long do you suppose this glory will last in his case? surely it will continue and flourish for the rest of his life. give him nine months, and little hedvig will be nothing more than the theme of a pretty little party piece. how dare you say that about hjalmar ekdal? we can discuss it again when the first grass starts showing on her grave. then he'll bring it all up, all about the child so untimely torn from a loving father's heart. then you'll see him wallowing deeper and deeper in sentimentality and self-pity. just you watch. if you're right and i'm wrong, life will no longer be worth living.

oh, life wouldn't be too bad if only these blessed people who come canvassing their ideals round everybody's door would leave us poor souls in peace. in that case, i'm glad my destiny is what it is. if i may ask, what is your destiny? to be 13th at table. the devil it is. it's interesting that ibsen, who is known for his masterful treatment of the well-made play, can still leave unanswered questions as the curtain falls-- whether hedvig considers herself to be the wild duck, or that hjalmar has felt any remorse or will fulfill the doctor's prophecy and rework these tragic events in his own memory,

whether most of us need the life lie, what kind of idealism makes any sense? ibsen brought important themes heightened by symbols to this story of ordinary people, thus showing the world that greatness need not be reserved for the nobility. the history of modern theater begins with the contributions of this daring playwright. this was a co-production of miami-dade community college and british broadcasting corporation, british open university. [music] captioning performed by aegis rapidtext