In the Greta Garbo documentary Garbo: Where Did You Go? director Lorna Tucker explores the empty promise of fame and the pitfalls of being an ambitious woman. We chat with the acclaimed filmmaker about why the story resonates today
Everyone has heard of Greta Garbo. The Swedish actor, who broke through in Hollywood during the silent era and successfully transitioned into talkies during Hollywood’s Golden Age, was, at one point, the most famous woman in the world. But fame is a tricky thing – it was tricky back in the 1930s and 1940s (when smartphones were but a dystopian fantasy) and it remains tricky today – for women, especially. Garbo’s complicated relationship with fame – and the true nature of the enigmatic icon – is probed in a new documentary, Garbo: Where Did You Go? Directed by British filmmaker Lorna Tucker, who’s made a name for herself exploring the nuances of complicated women, the film reveals that Garbo’s experience is eerily contemporary.
Still of Greta Garbo from 'Garbo: Where Did You Go?', directed by Lorna Tucker. Photo: Garbo: Where Did You Go?
“This film is about how it feels for a woman to constantly live in fear and have a dream,” says Tucker. “And why are we doing what we do? What is our goal with our dreams? And if we actually achieved our dreams, would that make us happy?” In Garbo’s case, achieving success beyond her wildest fantasies (not to mention against all odds; she grew up in Södermalm a working class girl with no ties to even the local theatre scene) was an empty promise and fame proved almost insufferable.