The Governess

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.

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.

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.

This is a deeply flawed film. Supporting characters are never fleshed out and the ending simply does not ring true. But coming as it does in the wake of several films about the Holocaust (with more on the way, one imagines), "The Governess" accomplishes something extremely important: it presents Judaism and Jewishness as normal and desirable.

Indeed, the film takes a fairly dim view of other states of existence. Gentiles -- particularly Christians -- who are thinking of seeing this film should be warned that they and their culture do not come off very well.

"The Governess" is also a very beautiful film to look at and listen to.

Happy Passover, everyone!

I thought this movie was beautiful. It was somewhat overlooked in America when it was released in 1998, partly because it had to compete against some higher profile British films and partly because it is not commercial. It could not be sold to the general public for a very sad reason - most movie goers have absolutely no sense or knowledge of history. So, the story of being a Jewess in mid-19th Century England and Scotland would seem too odd to them. In addition, the average person might have difficulty in grasping how amazing photography was to people in those days.

For those who do have knowledge of history, I highly recommend this film. Some might say that Rosina [Minnie Driver] is too much of a modern character, but intelligent women, rebellious women and highly sensual women have ALWAYS existed, regardless of the morals and hypocrisies of the times they lived in.