Albert Nobbs

Director: Rodrigo García Rodrigo García

Overview

Glenn Close co-wrote and stars in this period drama based on the short story The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs by author George Moore, centering on the experiences of a 19th century Irish woman who poses as a man in order to work as a butler at an opulent Dublin hotel for the upper class. Maintaining her elaborate ruse over the course of two decades, Albert (Close) suddenly finds her dedication to the role challenged by the unexpected arrival of a painter who turns out to understand Albert better than anyone she could have imagined. Meanwhile, Albert finds her attempts to help pretty hotel maid Helen (Mia Wasikowska) thwarted when Helen becomes enamored with a charming but callous handyman (Aaron Johnson). Albert Nobbs played at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/15/2012
UPC:	0031398151487
Original Release:	2011
Rating:	R
Source:	LIONSGATE - 600000-AEC LGE
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:53:00
Sales rank:	59,940

Special Features

Closed Caption; Audio commentary with Glenn Close and Rodrigo Garcia; Deleted scenes; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Glenn Close	Albert Nobbs
Mia Wasikowska	Helen Dawes
Janet McTeer	Hubert
Brendan Gleeson	Dr. Holloran
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	Viscount Yarrell
Pauline Collins	Mrs. Baker
Brenda Fricker	Polly
Aaron Taylor-Johnson	Joe
James Greene	Patrick
Serena Brabazon	Mrs. Moore
Michael McElhatton	Mr. Moore
Antonia Campbell-Hughes	Emmy
Maria Doyle Kennedy	Mary
Mark Williams	Sean
Dolores Mullally	Milady
Bonnie McCormack	Miss Shaw
Phyllida Law	Mrs. Cavendish
Kenneth Collard	M. Pigot
Judy Donovan	Mme. Pigot
Phoebe Waller-Bridge	Viscountess Yarrell
Emerald Fennell	Mrs. Smythe-Willard
John Light	Mr. Smythe-Willard
Daniel Costello	Mr. Sweeney
Angeline Ball	Mrs. Gilligan
Philip O'Sullivan	Mr. Gilligan
Katie Long	Young Kitchen Maid
Katie O'Brien	Older Kitchen Maid
Mark Doherty	Porter
Rhys Burke	George Moore
Lauren Kinsella	Milly Moore
Katie Ann McDonough	Laundry Maid
Kathleen Warner Yates	Laundry Maid
Cate MacGabhann	Laundry Maid
Bronagh Gallagher	Cathleen
Antoinette Healy	Woman on Landau
Annie Starke	Chocolate Shop Waitress
Cathy White	Nanny
Malcolm Blacow	Health Official
Lily Melcher	Country Girl
Lucie Melcher	Country Girl
Raul Riva	Baby
Juno	Polly's Dog
Brian Byrne	Composer

Technical Credits

Glenn Close

Gabriella Prekop

John Banville

Rodrigo García	Director
Glenn Close	Screenwriter,Producer
Gabriella Prekop	Screenwriter
John Banville	Screenwriter
Alan Moloney	Producer
Julie Lynn	Producer
Bonnie Curtis	Producer
Sharon Harel-Cohen	Executive Producer
John C. Goff	Executive Producer,Executive Producer
David E. Shaw	Executive Producer
Daryl Roth	Executive Producer
Amy Hubbard	Casting
Priscilla John	Casting
Niall Brady	Sound/Sound Designer
Marcia Allen	Producer
John Amend	Producer
Team FX	Special Effects
Julie Lynn Cialini	Producer

Editorial Reviews

There will always be broad comedies about people impersonating members of the opposite sex -- classics like Some Like It Hot, Tootsie, and Victor/Victoria spring to mind immediately. While those films all have something deeper to say about our preconceived notions about gender roles, not that many dramas address the issue with the delicacy of Albert Nobbs. Set in 19th century Ireland, director Rodrigo Garcia's movie stars Glenn Close as the title character, a woman who has been posing publically as a man for decades in order to stay employed. Currently the head of the waitstaff at a hotel, Albert saves her money and occasionally goes to great lengths to hide her secret from the maids, her boss, and the hotel's drunken doctor (played with roguish sensitivity by the always reliable Brendan Gleeson). The truth becomes even more difficult to hide when Hubert (Janet McTeer), a painter working at the building, is ordered to bunk with Albert. However, when Hubert pieces together the truth about Albert, the new roommate is in the unique position of empathizing with her, for Hubert is also a woman trying to survive in a man's world without a man. That description does make Albert Nobbs sound like a farce, but the movie's delicate tone lets us know how seriously we're supposed to take Albert's situation, and Close's performance is masterfully economical. We stop seeing a man or woman at some point and just see Albert, a person who has been pretending to be someone else for so long that she doesn't know for sure who she is. She's not fully herself, and not fully Albert, and this problem reveals itself in minor ways throughout the film, but it comes to a head during Albert's interactions with Helen (Mia Wasikowska), a young maid at the hotel whom Albert grows both fond and protective of. When the headstrong Helen falls for a callow lothario, Albert feels she's found the right person on whom to spend the savings she's built up. While Close dominates the movie with her masterful performance, there is great work being done throughout the cast. McTeer becomes the movie's soul, imbuing Hubert with a confidence that only highlights Albert's discomfort; unlike our hero, Hubert is comfortable in her own skin. Wasikowska, who was brilliant in Garcia's HBO series In Treatment, simultaneously plays the best and worst aspects of Helen's immaturity; we can see why Albert is drawn to her and how dangerous their relationship could become. As a director, Garcia might be the poster boy for unassuming humanism. His work aims to draw viewers in because of his rich attention to the details of human behavior, and in that regard Albert Nobbs is very recognizably his. This isn't Masterpiece Theater, and it isn't Merchant/Ivory either. It's a gentle, subdued character study presented without an ounce of bombast or melodrama.