By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Rodrigo García
Starring: Aaron Johnson | Brendan Gleeson | Glen Close | Janet McTeer | Mia Wasikowska
Country: ireland, united_kingdom
Year: 2012
Running time: 113
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1602098/
Thom says: “There’s already serious Oscar talk for Glenn Close as Best Actress of 2011 & I wouldn’t make a big stink if she won. I’ve always like Glenn Close and she’s quite good here. But the problem with her performance I felt was in the character herself. Here she plays a woman who has masqueraded as a man for most of her life. She’s a butler in a good hotel but to hide her real self she comes across only as obedient and shy. So Close is all suppressed emotion and I ended up feeling sorry for Nobbs but never really liking her. But the story going on around her is very well presented with a wealth of interesting individuals. Best is McTeer playing Hubert another cross-dresser but one with amazing style and joie de vivre. Hubert goes through life as a man because she lives with and loves a woman that she presents to society as his (her) wife. Not so easy to be a practicing lesbian in those 19th century times. Wasikowska is fine as Helen, a young maid in the hotel who is in love with a handsome rat who leaves her pregnant, with nowhere to turn. Albert is in love with Helen, spurred on by the successful relationship of Hubert and her lady, but she hasn’t a clue how to tell the disinterested Helen what the real deal is. The ground does come tumbling down for many of the characters involved and the ironic ending is fun. Fascinating film overall that is a little light on relevance other than historically. Director Garcia is worth a mention here as he has an entire series of accomplished films to his credit. Starting with THINGS YOU CAN TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT HER (1999), then NINE LIVES (2005), the mediocre PASSENGERS (2008) & finally his best MOTHER & CHILD (2009) plus great contributions to some of the best dramas on television: ‘The Sopranos’, ‘Six Feet Under, ‘Big Love’, ‘In Treatment’ (which he developed), and my favorite television series of ALL-TIME ‘Carnivàle.’ So he’s turning into a serious talent. 4 cats”
Bruce says: “This film is worth seeing for Janet McTeer’s fearless, brilliant performance alone. There are other good things about ALBERT NOBBS; but McTeer, most noted stateside for her Tony-winning Nora in ‘The Doll’s House’, is a world apart. ALBERT NOBBS has been in the making for several decades. Glenn Close played Albert on stage in her youth and struggled for years before finally getting Albert to the big screen. An all-star cast has been assembled. The production design is excellent.
“The story is a quirky one. Ostensibly it is about a woman who has made her way in a man’s world disguised as a man, a headwaiter at the Morrison Hotel, one of Dublin’s finest. However, the story surprises in ways that are unexpected as the focus transitions from the vividly drawn characters to themes of gender inequality and privilege (and lack thereof) of class.
“Mrs. Baker (Pauline Collins) runs her hotel with an iron fist where her staff is concerned; she is grotesquely obsequious towards her rich and titled guests. Albert has been hoarding his tips and wages for years hoping to break free from his servitude. Inspired by a chance encounter with Hubert Page (Janet McTeer), Albert decides that he should take a wife and open a small business. He fantasizes that he can live in domestic bliss in spite of his sexual camouflage. This fantasy is so unrealistic that it borders on the absurd. But ALBERT NOBBS is hardly a comedy. Albert has struggled to maintain his hidden identity, forgoing any emotional
development.
“The object of Nobbs’ fantasy is Helen (Mia Wasikowska), one of the young maids at the Morrison. She is head over heels in love with Joe (Aaron Johnson) a handyman who recently joined the hotel staff. Nobbs begins courting Helen by day, unaware that Helen is bedded by Joe at night. Joe dreams of going to America and that plan includes Helen, until she becomes pregnant. Helen painfully discovers a pregnant woman is a burden to both employer and lover.
“The problem with ALBERT NOBBS lies with its eponymous character. Totally lacking in social skills, Albert is nearly a cipher, an unfortunate predicament for a film’s leading role. In the end I found the film satisfying, but the journey in getting to that point was frustrating. 4 cats”