FILM · 1983 · AUSTRALIA
The Wild Duck
17 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (17)
- #001
The cast of the film included experienced Australian actors Michael Pate and John Meillon.
- #002
The Wild Duck was the actress Lucinda Jones's first cinema film.
- #003
The film was made and released roughly a hundred years after Henrik Ibsen completed the writing of the source stage play in 1884.
- #004
It was the first feature-length cinema film produced by producer Phillip Emanuel.
- #005
The setting of the source stage play by Henrik Ibsen was relocated from Norway to Australia for this Australian cinema adaptation.
- #006
The film premiered in 1984, the centenary of Henrik Ibsen's writing of the source 1884 stage play.
- #007
It was the second film adaptation of a Henrik Ibsen story starring the actress Liv Ullmann; the first was Fruen fra havet (1979), about five years earlier.
- #008
Both the film's source playwright, Henrik Ibsen, and its lead actress, Liv Ullmann, were Norwegian and came from Norway.
- #009
English actor Jeremy Irons and Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann were brought in from abroad to take the lead roles in this Australian film production.
- #010
The film was nominated for three AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards — Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Achievement in Production Design, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for John Meillon — but it did not win a gong in any of these categories.
- #011
The film was directed by Henri Safran, who had directed the Australian film Storm Boy (1976), which starred a pelican. Both The Wild Duck (1983) and its source stage play had an ornithological title, and both this story and Storm Boy (1976) featured birds.
- #012
The green rural area seen in the film is the Centennial Parklands nature reserve in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
- #013
Both the film's director and its source playwright had similar names: Henri Safran and Henrik Ibsen, respectively.
- #014
The film's Charity World Premiere was held at the Ascot Theatre in Sydney, Australia, with proceeds to be donated to the Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Association.
- #015
The film entered the competition at the Montreal Film Festival and was selected for screening.
- #016
The most recent cinema film version of Henrik Ibsen's classic source stage play had been The Wild Duck (1976); coincidentally, Henri Safran's classic Australian film about another bird, a pelican — Storm Boy (1976) — had also first been released in 1976. In between there was also a television version [see: Ibsen's The Wild Duck (1977)]. The film version after this Australian 1984 cinema adaptation would also be made for television [see: Vildanden (1989)].
- #017
The Oz Movies website says: "According to a Film Victoria report on Australian domestic box office revenue, the film took $115,664 on its first release, equivalent to $293,787 in 2009 Australian dollars, which means it was more turkey than duck. The film had a limited release in the US, but negative reviews must have played a part in limiting its impact. As a result of interest in Liv Ullmann it found a place on cassette and later on disc. Jeremy Irons matches her, but there is an exotic flavour that now has a limited profile in the market."
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