To be honest, I found the early parts of this film to be excruciatingly slow and I didn't make it through on my first attempt. Still, I persevered and I found it more rewarding the second time. The film is about an upper class woman named Gertrud who attempts to find satisfaction through her relationships with men. Unsurprisingly, this is not a very successful endeavor. I think it's useful to analyze this film based on the viewer's understanding of the titular character. In other words, whether the viewer sees Gertrud as a protagonist or an antagonist will affect the way the film is understood.
Protagonist:
Gertrud is a victim of the uncaring men around her, each of whom seeks to use her for his own gain. Her first romantic partner is the best of these men but even he ultimately looks at her as a distraction-without her he could enjoy great success. The second man Gertrud interacts with becomes her spouse. This man looks at her as a symbol of social standing-people of his station need pretty wives to be accepted. It is especially important for her to put up as good face as he is looking to make a transition from a career as a lawyer to one as a government official. He cares for her no more than he might a particularly nice wristwatch. The third man is her adulterous lover. This young musician looks at her as a fun sexual diversion to be enjoyed before he settles down with his current fiancée. These three romantic partners aren't the only men in Gertrud's life, however. Ironically, the only man who really seems to care about her is not interested in her romantically-he seeks to encourage her to undertake academic pursuits. Thus Gertrud is treated badly throughout her life because she is unwilling to conform to others views of her-she seeks to be an individual and this goal is only reached when she abandons her preconceived notions of romantic happiness to focus on other things.
Antagonist:
Gertrud is a petulant woman-child who ruins the lives of two good men through her insistence on being the center of attention. She takes up so much of their time that they are unable to do what they need to do to provide the comforts she requires. If they attempt to put other things before her she takes this as a rejection. This is unpalatable for her so she abandons the men who do this. After going through two men this way she seeks to ruin a third man by distracting him from a promising musical career and enticing him to run off with her. This man is wise to her tricks, however, and he only has a relationship with her on his own terms. His utter rejection of her is devastating. This interaction leaves her a shell of her former self and she retires to a life of academic solitude.
While this film is thematically coherent and replete with visual symbolism, it ultimately fails to tell an engaging story or situate it's characters as anything more than broad archetypes. This is one of those films that I imagine must be dream come true for film scholars-it's undeniably fascinating from a formal standpoint. This doesn't mean much to casual viewers, however, so I would not recommend this for anyone who fits that category.
Protagonist:
Gertrud is a victim of the uncaring men around her, each of whom seeks to use her for his own gain. Her first romantic partner is the best of these men but even he ultimately looks at her as a distraction-without her he could enjoy great success. The second man Gertrud interacts with becomes her spouse. This man looks at her as a symbol of social standing-people of his station need pretty wives to be accepted. It is especially important for her to put up as good face as he is looking to make a transition from a career as a lawyer to one as a government official. He cares for her no more than he might a particularly nice wristwatch. The third man is her adulterous lover. This young musician looks at her as a fun sexual diversion to be enjoyed before he settles down with his current fiancée. These three romantic partners aren't the only men in Gertrud's life, however. Ironically, the only man who really seems to care about her is not interested in her romantically-he seeks to encourage her to undertake academic pursuits. Thus Gertrud is treated badly throughout her life because she is unwilling to conform to others views of her-she seeks to be an individual and this goal is only reached when she abandons her preconceived notions of romantic happiness to focus on other things.
Antagonist:
Gertrud is a petulant woman-child who ruins the lives of two good men through her insistence on being the center of attention. She takes up so much of their time that they are unable to do what they need to do to provide the comforts she requires. If they attempt to put other things before her she takes this as a rejection. This is unpalatable for her so she abandons the men who do this. After going through two men this way she seeks to ruin a third man by distracting him from a promising musical career and enticing him to run off with her. This man is wise to her tricks, however, and he only has a relationship with her on his own terms. His utter rejection of her is devastating. This interaction leaves her a shell of her former self and she retires to a life of academic solitude.
While this film is thematically coherent and replete with visual symbolism, it ultimately fails to tell an engaging story or situate it's characters as anything more than broad archetypes. This is one of those films that I imagine must be dream come true for film scholars-it's undeniably fascinating from a formal standpoint. This doesn't mean much to casual viewers, however, so I would not recommend this for anyone who fits that category.