jotix100 The myth of the governess in English literature, seems to have been the inspiration for film maker Sandra Goldbacher, who makes an auspicious debut with this feature. Never had a first time director been so blessed to be working with a winning team behind her. The glorious cinematography by Ashley Rowe, the music by Ed Shearmur, to name just two, make "The Governess" a satisfying movie to watch.We are taken to the England of the 1830s. The story shows us a Jewish family of means. Rosina, the oldest daughter is a sophisticated young woman who seems to thrive in that society. When her father is killed, Rosina's world goes to pieces. She decides to seek employment as a governess for a young girl in the Island of Skye, in the Hebrides. The trip Rosina undertakes in primitive transport makes her think whether she had made the right choice, or not. All she sees is the lush green of the English countryside around her. Her employers are a Scotish couple of means. Charles Cavendish is a man of science working in his own kind of photography. His wife, seems to be a woman who is bored out of her mind. The young charge, Clementina, doesn't like the idea of being bossed by the new governess. Rosina has changed her name and passes herself as a Christian by the name of Mary Blackchurch. There is also a young son, Henry, who is away at school.Mary, who has received an education in London, surprises Mr. Cavendish and soon becomes his assistant in his experiments. The admiration Charles feels toward the young woman soon turns into a passion that is reciprocated by Mary, who we are led to believe has not had any sexual experience before. This newly found passion in Charles soon gets the best of him as he feels it makes him neglect his interest, which has been helped immensely by Mary's innate intelligence.In a surprising turn of events, Mary decides that since she can't have Charles, she must leave the island and return to London, not before presenting Mrs. Cavendish with the naked picture of her husband she took, which appears to have been the excuse for the break in their illicit relationship. At the end, Rosina is back to London where she is seen practicing the new technique she learned by working with Charles in the island.Minnie Driver totally dominates the film. Her Rosina/Mary is perhaps her best role in her career. Some comments point to the fact that Ms. Driver seems older to play this woman, but in our humble opinion, she seems to have an understanding of the character and makes it come alive. Tom Wilkinson, a great actor that probably hasn't been recognized as he should, does an outstanding job in capturing Charles. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers plays Henry the son that comes back from school and ends up falling in love for the governess. Harriel Walter and Florence Hoath play Mrs. Cavendish and Clementina well.The film is a triumph for a novel director. Ms. Goldbacher clearly shows to be a voice to be reckoned with in the English cinema.

saska-3 THE GOVERNESS is a moody period piece, the meandering story of a Jewish woman who, upon the death of her father, sets out to 1830's Scotland, posing as a Gentile to get work to support her family in London.Rosina - or Mary, as she calls herself in a none too subtle piece of symbolic writing - is a rudderless child, a socialite with dreams of being an actress. She strikes up an alliance with her employer, and by accident solves a crucial problem in his research with photography. Giddy with success, they begin a halting and uncomfortable affair while the eldest son of her paramour falls hopelessly (and inexplicably) in love with her.And like a child, she fails to understand the consequences of her actions - in the end, betraying those she deceived in order to make a life for herself.Many claim this is something of a feminist manifesto, but I disagree. Whether intended or not, this film only resonates with me if I think of it as a cautionary tale. In the end, Rosina's greatest disappointment is the truth - that she lied, happened upon a way to help a man she wanted to be both her father and her lover, and in the end contributed nothing but destruction. As such, the end of the film gives me the impression that nothing she did, no one she used, made her happy - and that is exactly as it should be.Did I need a movie this long and langorous to teach me this lesson? Not at all. On the contrary, had it not been for excellent cinematography, unique score and my hope that she'd get her come-uppance, I wouldn't have stuck with it to the end of the film.Fans of Minnie Driver will likely be disappointed by her uneven performance but may wish to see it anyway; I doubt young female fans of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers will be able to stay awake for the payoff they expect, and I can't help thinking this holds too little cultural detail to be of interest, even to photography buffs. The 3 points I award the film are solely for its visual style and score. On the strength of their other work, I assume the actors' performances are so disappointing because of a poor script and worse directing, but they are, in the end, unremarkable.

E Canuck I usually glean valuable insights into films from the user comments at IMDB, but reading the critiques of `The Governess' I feel that many of the commentaries are colour-blind, missing the fine detail--how many ways can I say the same thing--there's more to this period piece than seems to have met the common eye. It's not just a sepia-and-white romantic snapshot, as some commentators allege, but a moving picture in subtle hues.In the main, many seem to have missed the driving force behind the unusual alliance at the core of the film: why Rosina falls for the older Cavendish and not his fair-faced but very green son. It's obviously not for his looks or his years-notwithstanding Rosina's grief for her suddenly deceased father, and all the Freudian implications of her being `floated' above her bed.It's self-evident in the film's unfolding that the sparks catch where they do because of a common pursuit and a shared passion, and one that is especially exciting to these two people because it gives them the sense they are innovating and creating something valuable. Rosina is lonely, bereft, and far from home, in many different senses. When she finds herself suddenly welcomed and valued, drawn toward fixing beauty and expressing herself, it's natural for her gratitude and sense of being closely connected to flower into erotic love for the man who opens that opportunity for her. Had her nasty and narcissistic `mistress' been the creative and welcoming one, rather than her `master', things could have been quite different and less socially explosive (and made for much less interesting cinema.)I'm not without quibbles about this movie-I think the governess has far too much `free' time and is far too able to get herself into trouble in the heart of this remotely situated family, without being caught. She's also far too unworried about being caught. A young woman in her circumstances would have to be afraid of social ruin (and a lot more careful about her fertility) than Director/writer Sandra Goldbacher's main character. But this is a special film, notwithstanding its anachronistic feminism. The special flavour of the Jewish woman's culture and the prejudice of English society against it, the photographic odyssey of Rosina and Cavendish, the believable pleasures and pain of the characters all make for a real find in a film not given due attention.

jayson-4 First, a confession: I'm not really in a position to review this film (which I caught this evening on Bravo), because I found it so deeply and frequently annoying that I spent as much time surfing away from it as watching it.I will make one observation, however. Fairly late in the film -- which is set in the earliest days of photography -- Minnie Driver's character is shown making a portrait of two young women. Driver -- ostensibly a talented photographer -- removes the lens cover (there being, of course, no mechanical shutters at the time) for the requisite VERY long exposure. While the image is being exposed, she essentially tells her giggling subjects to say "Cheese." Now what do you think the finished photo would look like under such circumstances? A messy, worthless blur? Bingo.Virtually nothing in this film -- set design, presentation of early photo methods, character motivation -- made any sense to me. But, as I said, perhaps I missed something as I feverishly tapped away at my remote.