ALBERT NOBBS (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Rodrigo García
Cast: Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Janet McTeer, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Brendan Gleeson, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Mark Williams, Bronagh Gallagher, Pauline Collins
RunTime: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Homosexual Content)
Released By:  Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://albertnobbs-themovie.com/#

Opening Day: 16 February 2012

Synopsis:  19th century Ireland: a woman with no husband or family and without work would face a bleak life of poverty and loneliness. Albert, a shy butler who keeps himself to himself, has been hiding a deep secret for years - 'he' is a woman who has had to dress and behave as a man all her life in order to escape this fate. When handsome painter Hubert Page arrives at the hotel, Albert is inspired to try and escape the false life she has created for herself. She gathers her nerves to court beautiful, saucy young maid Helen in whom she thinks she's found a soul-mate - but Helen's eye is on a new arrival: handsome, bad-boy Joe, the new handy-man! As Albert dares to hope that she might one day live a normal life, we catch a glimpse of a free-spirited woman who is caught in the wrong time...This humorous but ultimately poignant ensemble story about life 'below-stairs' is nothing less than Gosford Park meets Boys Don't Cry.

Movie Review:

Rare is a film with such elegant grace and tenderness as ‘Albert Nobbs’, the story of a woman who has pretended to be a man most of her life to escape from the gender discrimination of her time. It is 19^th century Ireland, and life isn’t kind to unmarried females who have to support themselves. With her disguise, Albert has found work as a butler in a modest hotel in Dublin called Morrison’s, saving up her tips shilling by shilling in the hopes of starting her own tobacco business one day.

That dream soon feels closer when Albert makes the acquaintance of a certain housepainter Hubert Page, whom the proprietress Mrs Baker (Pauline Collins) puts up in Albert’s room for a night. Afflicted with a case of the flea, Albert inadvertently reveals to Hubert that she is in fact a woman- a reality that is not as startling as the fact that Hubert is (gasp!) herself a woman too, and a married one at that! Albert is intrigued- how could she not be- at the possibility of acquiring similar company in her own life, the life of solitude she had resigned herself to suddenly enlivened with possibility.

At the heart of Albert Nobbs’ tale is a keen character study of repressed gender and its concomitant effects on sexuality. Just like Hubert, Albert’s idea of marriage isn’t with a man but rather a woman- in Albert’s case, a flirtatious maid Helen (Mia Wasikowska) who is instead caught up with the roguish Joe (Aaron Johnson) and his promises of bringing her to America someday. Is Albert naturally attracted to those of the same sex, or is her attraction towards Helen a consequence of her gender repression all these years?

To director Rodrigo Garcia’s credit, a filmmaker whose body of works have demonstrated his craft at bringing strong female characters to life on the big screen, the issue of Albert’s sexuality is handled so deftly that it never feels as if he or his screenwriters (Gabriella Prekop, John Banville, and Glenn Close) were attempting to persuade you one way or another. Instead, they concentrate on realising as fully as possible the titular character, allowing their audience to partake in her joys and sorrows, hopes and disappointments, and in the process empathise with her motivations and inclinations.

In the same way, Garcia shows plenty of empathy for his other female characters. Hubert surprises as a perfect complement to Albert, candid and sharp-tongued compared to the latter’s meekness and manners. Despite their apparent similarities, the film also takes care to illuminate their differences- whereas for Hubert disguising her gender was a matter of self-assertion, it is for Albert a form of anonymity. And in sharper contrast is Helen, representing the most archetypal form of the female gender, whose sensitivity and maturity ironically cannot hold a candle to that of Albert or Hubert.

It isn’t easy to bring such distinctive characters like Albert or Hubert to life, but both Glenn Close and Janet McTeer have done so magnificently that it is difficult to imagine any other actresses in their roles. Close knows the character intimately, having won an Obie for a stage adaptation of the short story back in 1982, and her performance is a masterclass in subtlety and nuance. With the smallest gestures and actions, she conveys Albert’s desire for companionship and acceptance, easily winning over our sympathy in her character’s search for a better life and a chance at love. It is undoubtedly one of the finest performances from Close, and absolutely deserving of her recent Best Actress Oscar nomination.

Given the understated nature of the role, it’s inevitable that one gets distracted by McTeer’s ostensibly showier performance. That’s not to say that McTeer’s is the lesser among the two actresses- indeed, the British actress imbues Hubert with infectiously unbridled warmth and exuberance. She is the counterpoint to Close’s tightly-coiled reserve, and McTeer’s equally marvellous work has again deservedly won her a first Best Supporting Actress Oscar nom. Compared to Close and McTeer, Wasikowska understandably pales in a much more conventional role, but the young actress does her best to inject texture into her supporting act as the object of Albert’s tender affection.

Garcia surrounds her three central characters with an interesting  cast of characters at the hotel- besides the acerbic Mrs Baker, the alcoholic house doctor Holloran (Brendan Gleeson) with a thing for one of the other housemaids, the fellow server Sean (Mark Williams) with less observance for etiquette and primness than Mrs Baker would fancy, and a group of often loud and rowdy young aristocrats (led by Johnathan Rhys Meyers). There is Dickensian richness around Albert, the attention that Garcia has paid to these supporting characters commendable.

But Albert is at the heart of it all, thrown into a heady mix of gender identity, sexuality, and class politics while searching for hope, meaning and love in her otherwise mundane and monotonous life. There is a hushed sadness to it all, but Glenn Close’s peerless act as Albert and Janet McTeer’s surprising turn as Hubert make this story of repression a true joy to behold. It brims with depth and poignancy, a richly layered and graceful portrayal of the universal search- no matter man or woman- for acceptance and love.

Movie Rating:

(With matchless performances by Oscar nominees Glenn Close and Janet McTeer, this is an extraordinarily poignant story of acceptance and love told with elegant grace and tenderness)

Review by Gabriel Chong