The Governess
Encyclopedia
The Governess is a 1998
British
period
drama film
written and directed by Sandra Goldbacher
. The screenplay
focuses on a young Jewish woman of Sephardic background, who reinvents herself as a gentile
governess
when she is forced to find work to support her family.
. When her father is murdered on the street and leaves behind numerous debts, she forsakes an arranged marriage to an older suitor, transforms herself into Mary Blackchurch - a Protestant of partial Italian
descent - in order to conceal her heritage, and accepts a position as a governess for a Scottish
family living on the Isle of Skye
in the Hebrides
. Patriarch Charles Cavendish is a man of science intent on solving the problem of retaining a photographic
image on paper, while his wife flounders in a sea of ennui
. Their young daughter Clementina initially resists Mary's discipline, but eventually finds in her a friend and companion.
Mary, well-educated and unusually curious for a female in an era when a woman's primary focus is keeping house and attending to the needs of her family, surprises Charles with the depth of her interest in his work and becomes his assistant. The admiration he feels for the young woman soon turns into a passion that is reciprocated by Mary, but eventually he finds himself torn between his feelings for her and his dedication to his work.
Complications ensue when Henry Cavendish returns home after being expelled from Oxford University for smoking opium
and being caught with a prostitute and becomes obsessed with Mary. While searching through her belongings, he uncovers evidence of her true background, and although he confesses to her he knows about her past, he promises to keep it their secret.
Charles discovers a nude photograph of himself Mary took while he was asleep following a session of lovemaking in his laboratory, and he begins to shun her, going so far as to claim credit for a technique she discovered when a fellow scientist visits. Angered by his rebuff and betrayal, Mary leaves the island and returns to London, but not before presenting Mrs. Cavendish with the picture of her naked husband. Once home, she reverts to her true identity and becomes a photographer noted for her distinct images of Jewish people.
in North Ayrshire
, Wrotham Park
in Hertfordshire
, and London. Interiors were filmed at the Pinewood Studios
in Buckinghamshire
.
For the soundtrack
, composer Edward Shearmur relied on the piano
, harp
, stringed instruments, ethnic flute
s, santour, violin
, and Eastern percussion instrument
s to imitate Sephardi
melodies of the era. Songs were performed in Ladino by Ofra Haza
. The soundtrack also includes "Standchen," a serenade for violin and piano by Franz Schubert
.
before going into limited release in the US. On its opening weekend it grossed $57,799 in six theaters. Its total box office in the US was $3,719,509.. The film received positive reception from critics, especially for Driver's performance as Rosina da Silva.
In his review in the New York Times, Stephen Holden called the film "ravishingly handsome" and added, "The Governess is a wonderful showcase for Ms. Driver . . . If [her] performance is strong, it is less than great, because her face lacks the transparency of expression that would transport us inside her character's mind . . . The movie takes some missteps. Rosina's ability to support her family in luxurious style from her earnings as a governess is implausible. The screenplay includes some glaring lapses into contemporary slang
. And dramatically, the movie peters out in its disappointingly perfunctory final scenes. But [it] still leaves a lasting after-image."
Ruthe Stein of the San Francisco Chronicle
said, "As Rosina's extraordinary fate unfolds in The Governess, the real wonder becomes how British filmmaker Sandra Goldbacher was able to write and direct such an accomplished, touching and original movie her first time out . . . Rosina is a wonderfully rich role, and Driver gives it everything she has. It's her best work yet."
In Variety
, Ken Eisner called the film "beautifully crafted" and said it "gets high marks for originality and style," then added, "Although first-time helmer Sandra Goldbacher, working from her own script, has come up with a fascinating premise, her follow-through is too scattered in concept and monotonous in execution to be truly rewarding . . . [It] has much to offer the senses . . . but the images are often art-directed to death, with more attention paid to fabrics, textures and colors than to narrative coherence. A little trimming could remove some of the distractions and repetition, but it won't be easy to hide the movie's lack of a solid point or payoff."
Barbara Shulgasser of the San Francisco Examiner observed, "Sandra Goldbacher, writing and directing her first feature, is a sure-handed filmmaker. The movie is a tableau of sensuality. The tactile attractiveness of the photographic images meld with the fire that devours the lovers . . . I found the end of the movie a bit of an anticlimax and sense that Goldbacher just ran out of steam. But it seems a sure bet that she has many more movies ahead of her, all of which I look forward to seeing."
In Entertainment Weekly
, Owen Gleiberman graded the film C and called it "a have-your-kugel
-and-eat-it-too princess fantasy. Writer-director Sandra Goldbacher glorifies her heroine at every turn, but she also fills the movie with arid pauses, turning it into a claustrophobic study in repression."
for Best Technical/Artistic Achievement for his cinematography. Sandra Goldbacher was nominated for the Crystal Globe and won both the Audience Award and Special Prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
.
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
period
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
written and directed by Sandra Goldbacher
Sandra Goldbacher
Sandra Goldbacher is a British film director and producer.Among her films are The Governess, starring Minnie Driver and nominated for a BAFTA award in 1999, and Me Without You , starring Anna Friel and Michelle Williams.- References :...
. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
focuses on a young Jewish woman of Sephardic background, who reinvents herself as a gentile
Gentile
The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....
governess
Governess
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...
when she is forced to find work to support her family.
Plot synopsis
Set in the 1830s, the story centers on Rosina da Silva, the sophisticated elder daughter in a wealthy Jewish Italian family living in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. When her father is murdered on the street and leaves behind numerous debts, she forsakes an arranged marriage to an older suitor, transforms herself into Mary Blackchurch - a Protestant of partial Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
descent - in order to conceal her heritage, and accepts a position as a governess for a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
family living on the Isle of Skye
Skye
Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
in the Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
. Patriarch Charles Cavendish is a man of science intent on solving the problem of retaining a photographic
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
image on paper, while his wife flounders in a sea of ennui
Boredom
Boredom is an emotional state experienced when an individual is without any activity or is not interested in their surroundings. The first recorded use of the word boredom is in the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens, written in 1852, in which it appears six times, although the expression to be a...
. Their young daughter Clementina initially resists Mary's discipline, but eventually finds in her a friend and companion.
Mary, well-educated and unusually curious for a female in an era when a woman's primary focus is keeping house and attending to the needs of her family, surprises Charles with the depth of her interest in his work and becomes his assistant. The admiration he feels for the young woman soon turns into a passion that is reciprocated by Mary, but eventually he finds himself torn between his feelings for her and his dedication to his work.
Complications ensue when Henry Cavendish returns home after being expelled from Oxford University for smoking opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
and being caught with a prostitute and becomes obsessed with Mary. While searching through her belongings, he uncovers evidence of her true background, and although he confesses to her he knows about her past, he promises to keep it their secret.
Charles discovers a nude photograph of himself Mary took while he was asleep following a session of lovemaking in his laboratory, and he begins to shun her, going so far as to claim credit for a technique she discovered when a fellow scientist visits. Angered by his rebuff and betrayal, Mary leaves the island and returns to London, but not before presenting Mrs. Cavendish with the picture of her naked husband. Once home, she reverts to her true identity and becomes a photographer noted for her distinct images of Jewish people.
Production notes
The film was shot on location at Brodick CastleBrodick Castle
Brodick Castle is a castle situated outside the port of Brodick on the Isle of Arran, an island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. It was previously a seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland.-Early and High Mediæval:...
in North Ayrshire
North Ayrshire
North Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...
, Wrotham Park
Wrotham Park
Wrotham Park, Hertsmere, Hertfordshire is a neo-Palladian English country house, designed by Isaac Ware in 1754 for Admiral John Byng, the fourth son of Admiral Sir George Byng, which remains in the family at the heart of a estate seventeen miles from Hyde Park Corner...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, and London. Interiors were filmed at the Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
.
For the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, composer Edward Shearmur relied on the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, stringed instruments, ethnic flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, santour, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, and Eastern percussion instrument
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
s to imitate Sephardi
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
melodies of the era. Songs were performed in Ladino by Ofra Haza
Ofra Haza
Ofra Haza was an Israeli singer of Yemeni origin, an actress and international recording artist....
. The soundtrack also includes "Standchen," a serenade for violin and piano by Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
.
Principal cast
- Minnie DriverMinnie DriverMinnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches.- Early life...
..... Rosina da Silva/Mary Blackchurch - Tom Wilkinson ..... Charles Cavendish
- Harriet WalterHarriet WalterDame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE is a British actress.-Personal life:She is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee, as the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The TimesShe was educated at...
..... Mrs. Cavendish - Jonathan Rhys Meyers ..... Henry Cavendish
- Florence HoathFlorence HoathFlorence Angela L. Hoath is a British actress best known for her 2005 appearances as Nancy in Doctor Who.The daughter of British actress Tina Martin, Hoath made her film debut in the 1993 screen adaptation of Secret Rapture at the age of eight...
..... Clementina Cavendish
Critical reception
The film debuted at the Seattle International Film FestivalSeattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
before going into limited release in the US. On its opening weekend it grossed $57,799 in six theaters. Its total box office in the US was $3,719,509.. The film received positive reception from critics, especially for Driver's performance as Rosina da Silva.
In his review in the New York Times, Stephen Holden called the film "ravishingly handsome" and added, "The Governess is a wonderful showcase for Ms. Driver . . . If [her] performance is strong, it is less than great, because her face lacks the transparency of expression that would transport us inside her character's mind . . . The movie takes some missteps. Rosina's ability to support her family in luxurious style from her earnings as a governess is implausible. The screenplay includes some glaring lapses into contemporary slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
. And dramatically, the movie peters out in its disappointingly perfunctory final scenes. But [it] still leaves a lasting after-image."
Ruthe Stein of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
said, "As Rosina's extraordinary fate unfolds in The Governess, the real wonder becomes how British filmmaker Sandra Goldbacher was able to write and direct such an accomplished, touching and original movie her first time out . . . Rosina is a wonderfully rich role, and Driver gives it everything she has. It's her best work yet."
In Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Ken Eisner called the film "beautifully crafted" and said it "gets high marks for originality and style," then added, "Although first-time helmer Sandra Goldbacher, working from her own script, has come up with a fascinating premise, her follow-through is too scattered in concept and monotonous in execution to be truly rewarding . . . [It] has much to offer the senses . . . but the images are often art-directed to death, with more attention paid to fabrics, textures and colors than to narrative coherence. A little trimming could remove some of the distractions and repetition, but it won't be easy to hide the movie's lack of a solid point or payoff."
Barbara Shulgasser of the San Francisco Examiner observed, "Sandra Goldbacher, writing and directing her first feature, is a sure-handed filmmaker. The movie is a tableau of sensuality. The tactile attractiveness of the photographic images meld with the fire that devours the lovers . . . I found the end of the movie a bit of an anticlimax and sense that Goldbacher just ran out of steam. But it seems a sure bet that she has many more movies ahead of her, all of which I look forward to seeing."
In Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, Owen Gleiberman graded the film C and called it "a have-your-kugel
Kugel
Kugel is a baked Ashkenazi Jewish pudding or casserole, similar to a pie, most commonly made from egg noodles or potatoes, though at times made of zucchini, apples, spinach, broccoli, cranberry, or sweet potato...
-and-eat-it-too princess fantasy. Writer-director Sandra Goldbacher glorifies her heroine at every turn, but she also fills the movie with arid pauses, turning it into a claustrophobic study in repression."
Awards and nominations
Ashley Rowe won the Evening Standard British Film AwardEvening Standard British Film Awards
The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by the British London area evening newspaper Evening Standard. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony honours films from the previous...
for Best Technical/Artistic Achievement for his cinematography. Sandra Goldbacher was nominated for the Crystal Globe and won both the Audience Award and Special Prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Europe's major film events....
.