Glenn Close co-wrote and stars in this adaptation of the play about a nineteenth-century Irishwoman who disguises herself as a man and works as a butler for twenty years. Mia Wasikowska, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Aaron Johnson co-star in this intelligent and often surprising period drama.
True independence is something hard won at the best of times, but for the protagonist of director Rodrigo Garcia’s captivating period piece, the measures taken to achieve it are extraordinary by any standard.
Albert Nobbs unfolds within the opulent rooms of Dublin’s most luxurious hotel, a place designed for the enjoyment of the privileged class. For those who live and work there, however, private dramas are unfolding, and much is not as it seems. Take Albert, the shy butler. He keeps to himself for a very good reason. Albert has been hiding a secret for a very long time. Albert is actually a woman.
Nineteenth-century Ireland was not an easy place for a single woman of no means. To keep herself from destitution’s door, Albert (Glenn Close, who played the role in an off-Broadway adaptation and is one of the film’s writers and producers) has spent over twenty years pretending to be a man. By now it would seem that nothing could spoil her immaculate ruse, but when a handsome painter arrives at the hotel, Albert is tempted to let the mask she’s worn for so long slip away. As she investigates the possibility of getting close to the artist, Albert attempts to secure the assistance of Helen (Mia Wasikowska), one of the hotel’s young maids, but Helen too is distracted — by a handsome young handyman (Aaron Johnson).
Based on the short story The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs by George Moore, the film benefits immeasurably from its adaptation, the fruit of a collaboration between Close and Booker Prize–winning author John Banville. Their witty exchanges are handled with utter finesse by the cast, which features not only Close, Wasikowska and Johnson, but also Irish actors Brendan Gleeson and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Together they will transport you into the past — to meet a woman ahead of her time. –TIFF
