A Governanta

I quite enjoyed this movie. Sure, my mind wandered a lot because the story is hardly gripping. I'm also positive I won't remember much about it next week, except that Minnie Driver's talent and beauty is stunning. STUNNING. I did also feel that the leading man was poorly cast. He did not seem to me a person that a young, vibrant woman would fall for. I'm sure the script called for a older man, but age wasn't the problem. He just didn't seem to fit in with Minnie Driver. Nonetheless, the whole movie was excellently shot and wonderfully acted and extremely high quality, but conversely it's regrettably forgettable. (That's a nice phrase, no?)

Why all the negativity about this utterly brilliant motion picture? First of all, Minnie Driver is absolutely splendid. The entire film is beautiful to watch, the story palpably intelligent and erotic. The characters rich and spellbinding. I was enraptured by the first 5 minutes and the story never let me down. Tom Wilkinson was excellent as was Harriet Walter. A definite must see for lovers of intelligent period pieces. Very reminiscent visually of Jane Campion's "The Portrait of a Lady" and Shekhar Kapur's "Elizabeth." Too bad the film (and especially Driver's performance) got so little attention when it was released this summer. Rent it, and then decide how you feel.

After her father is murdered, Rosina (Minnie Driver) must marry without love or strike out and try something different. She changes her name and takes a job as a governess.

Of course, she also has to hide her Jewishness and learn to be a Protestant.

Her employer, Charles Cavendish (Tom Wilkinson) is a photographer working on a way to fix the photos he takes so that they last more than a day. She shows an interest in his work and spends her spare time helping. As expected, Minnie Drivers sensuality soon captivates him. He gives up his photographs of nature and gets into portraiture.

He realizes that he is not her intellectual equal and, when he discovers that he was in love with a Jewess, he turns very cruel.

She returns to London during a cholera epidemic, finding her mother dead. He new knowledge enable her family to survive, and she flourishes.

Driver was outstanding, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers was also good as the son.

Sandra Goldbacher's first feature film shows much promise.

I found this movie to be quite beautiful, and it opened a period of history seldom explored in films. It tells the tale of a Jewess in 19th Century London who must disguise herself as a gentile to obtain employment as a governess. Her joy for life and her searching mind attract her to her employer, who is trying to discover a way to "freeze" the photographic image. It is very much of its time. Minnie Driver is excellent, very sensual and convincing. Tom Wilkinson is incredibly strong and attractive. The dark colors and the general sense of gloom are very well depicted. I thought it was a marvelous film.

Do not be put off by the negative comments in the user reviews here! This is a thoughtful, lovely, well-made film. I would watch it again, which is, for me, the highest endorsement. I can not comprehend how anyone could find it "boring".