Albert Nobbs (2011)

Technically, the film Albert Nobbs won't be released in the United States until late January, and I would think that would disqualify it as a contender for the upcoming Oscars (although the buzz around says otherwise, so I don't know how that works) but it would be a real shame if true because Glenn Close is strictly at her best since Dangerous Liaisons as Albert Nobbs, a male waiter living a secret life. Janet McTeer is a bit more hammy as Hubert Page, another woman living life as a man, and she's not as convincing as Close is as a man, but she still has her moments, like the way she walks all manly on the beach even when wearing a dress. Mia Wasikowska also gives a supporting actress nomination worthy role as sort of what Cécile was to Liaisons. I really hated the ending of this film and would have preferred something a little less Remains of the Day and a little more uplifting and hopeful, so as a film I don't think it is best picture material but Glenn Close certainly deserves her long overdue Oscar for this stunning performance.

I do have to wonder how this got an R rating though. There is nothing R rated in it whatsoever; the only nudity involves two very quick flashes of breasts only to establish that the characters are actually female, and other than that, there is no foul language or violence or anything. The MPPA should reconsider what I believe to be a biased rating that it came up with based only on the fact that the film hints at lesbianism.

Fmovies: The three movies that I've seen that Rodrigo García (son of Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez) directed deal with women's relationships: "Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her", "Mother and Child" and now "Albert Nobbs". In the latter, Glenn Close plays a woman posing as a man in 19th century Dublin and working as a butler in a posh hotel. When the hotel owner hires a painter named Hubert Page (Janet McTeer), Albert soon finds out Hubert's secret. From there, relationships with other staff members proliferate.

The movie brings up several issues. Aside from Ireland's status as a British colony in the 19th century, there's the social hierarchy in the hotel, and the forbidden relationships. Albert's posing as a man is partially because of some haunting experiences, but also because women didn't have as many opportunities open to them back then. As a result of his hiding in this male persona, Albert has been hiding from himself, one might say.

All in all, I thought that this is a very well done movie. Close looks eerily gaunt in the role, easily passing as a man, while Mia Wasikowska, playing a maid, has the perfection balance of strength and fragility. I recommend the movie. Also starring Aaron Johnson (John Lennon in "Nowhere Boy"), Pauline Collins, Brendan Gleeson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Maria Doyle Kennedy.

So-so. Was initially engaging, as you empathise with Albert Nobbs and some of the other characters too. However, the plot struggles to find direction, drifts from a point and ends as a bit of damp squib. The movie had the potential to make a very profound point about women's rights and self-determination, but in the end skirts all these and has a decidedly lacklustre end.

Glenn Close does her best to get an Oscar, and got a nomination for it, but I found her performance too stuffy and uptight. Janet McTeer, on the other hand, gives a superb performance and well deserved her Best Supporting Actress nomination. Good support too from Mia Wasikowska and most of the other supporting cast.

Albert Nobbs fmovies. Glenn Close's portrayal of the title character was excellent! She was at her best in this picture. Perhaps the reason why other people who saw the movie felt that the movie is draggy and her portrayal is so-so was because there wasn't any hysteria in it. There wasn't any grandstanding scene. There wasn't a shouting match. No loud confrontations. No slapping and hair-pulling scenes. It's a quiet movie so unlike of Close's other known portrayals.

But one can't simply ignore the greatness she has shown in her eyes. You can feel the sadness, the pain, the fears and the hope in her eyes. It was a quiet, restrained performance that is quite haunting that stays in your mind even after watching it. And that's what happened to me. Hours after watching it, the scenes and her story still lingers in my mind.

Everyone in the movie gave worthy performances.... Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Pauline Collins, Brendan Gleeson, Jonathan Rhys Myers (even though he was in 3-4 scenes only) and most especially, Janet McTeer.

McTeer's characterization was superb. Her body built helped a lot in her portrayal of Hubert Page. But i don't believe that she upstaged Close's here. Her character was quite different from the character that Glenn Close was portraying. And both did quite well in giving justice to the roles they played in the movie.

The beach scene was excellent... quiet, yet conveys so much feelings...

How i wish that those who've seen the movie and saw it differently will watch it again and see the story from Albert Nobbs' point of view. See the expressions in 'his' eyes and feel the tragedy of the life 'he' has gone through.

Glenn Close really deserves to win the Oscar's Best Actress plum with this movie.

When men dress up as women in the movies, it is almost always in a comedy or farce; think Some Like It Hot (1959), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and Tootsie (1982). However, when the situation is reversed and the film concerns women dressing up as men, the movie is habitually a drama bordering on tragedy: Yentl (1983), Boys Don't Cry (1999), and Osama (2003). Perhaps men trying to pass themselves off as women are just funnier and more outlandish, but the reasons behind it are usually not as urgent. In Albert Nobbs, Albert (Glenn Close) is the head waiter at an upscale hotel in 19th century Ireland. He appears to be middle-aged and has been passing himself off as a man since he/she was 14. His livelihood and future in the midst of immense unemployment and desperate surroundings depend on maintaining this deception.

I use the pronouns 'he' and 'his' because nothing about Albert is female except for the some well hidden physiology. Albert is extremely adept at passing as a man. When he speaks at all, his voice is low. His hair is short, he is impeccably dressed, his manners are irreproachable, and he does nothing whatsoever to call any attention to himself. As any man-servant should be, he is invisible. Working in the hospitality industry is just a means to end for Albert though. He lives such a spartan lifestyle because he hoards his money underneath his floorboard to one day soon purchase a shop and become a respected tobacconist. He is close; he has identified the vacant shop, has planned its layout, and can almost feel the escape which will come when he is his own boss.

Albert knows something is missing in his grand scheme though; he is lonely. In the beginning, he does not recognize he is missing anything important until he is forced to share his room one night with a man, Mr. Hubert Page (Janet McTeer). Through a contrived sequence, Albert is revealed as a female to Mr. Page and only later on learns Mr. Page is also a woman. Using what look like camera tricks and perspective shots, Mr. Page is a towering and bulky workman. He is also married to a woman. This bit of news tremendously confuses poor Albert. How is it possible for two women to be married to one another? It is obvious that Mr. Page and his wife are in a lesbian relationship; however, Albert would not even know what that word means. Albert comes across as asexual. There has never been a chance in his life to conceive of intimacy so all feelings and aspects of that persona just atrophied away.

Now that Albert's eyes are opened to the fact that there are women out in the world who are married to each other, he sets his eyes on the lowly but young and desirable chambermaid Helen (Mia Wasikowska). Helen knows just how pretty she is and becomes smitten by the newly employed handyman Joe (Aaron Johnson). Not only is Albert stunted in the intimacy realm of life, but his social skills are also not as fine tuned as the younger set who now aware of Albert's infatuation with Helen, may try to use those feelings for their financial gain.

While the story of Albert Nobbs is on the weaker side and not particularly engaging, the acting, specifically by Close and McTeer, is fascinating. There is a scene where Albert and Mr. Page try on some dresses and take a walk outside. For Albert, this is the first time he has worn a dress in probably 30 years. The immediate discomfort but growing acceptance and then utter joy on his face is a wonderful scene as he experiences some long repressed feelings while ecstatically runni

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times(apologies to Dickens) in this Irish drama of the affluent and the working class at the turn of he century. Glenn Close is a towering figure throughout as Albert Nobbs, a butler at an upscale hotel in Dublin. Close and Mia Wasikowska are both magnificent in this saga of gender identity. Nobbs is dressed as a man in order to work and survive in a world better suited to being a male and she is searching for who and what she should be. Her dream of opening a shop with a woman she has fallen in love with, well played by Wasikowska is deeply affecting.

Janet McTeer and Brendan Gleeson round out a perfect ensemble cast as they are two of the best actors working today. Gleeson brings some comic relief as the resident doctor and McTeer gives a sympathetic ear and emotional support to Close.

Sinead O'Connor sings the final song as the credits roll. The story is a sad one but due to the great cast it is a movie worth watching.