Rating: 
Summary: Better the second time around... a family in need of Freud
Review: I am a period movie fan. I first saw this film when it was new in the rental stores. At the time I thought it was interesting, but it did not rate as high as other films I was into. Recently I decided to watch it again while I was fiending for a movie with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in it and I must say it was worth a second viewing.
Minnie Driver plays Rosina, a young Jewish woman who must find employment to help support her family after the murder of her father. She gets hired at a home in Scotland by cold woman with two children and a husband who spends the bulk of his time pursuing new innovations in the Photographic field. Quickly she is swept up in the morose nature of this family, but she finds joy in the studio with the lord of the manor and an unexpected love affair as well.
The casting of this movie was well done. Driver's performance as the ingenue suits her well and she captivates as the driving force behind the plot. Tom Wilkinson, who plays her love interest Charles Cavendish, is also well matched as the isolated naturalist who cannot bring himself to face the timultuous emotions the young Rosina inspires in him. As for the reason I chose to rewatch the film, Meyers is as engaging as always as the young college man who fixates his desire on Rosina nearly from the moment he meets her. The cinematography is also stunning, the gray and black tones of color set the mood of the film and the location is a fitting backdrop for this brooding story, whether or not it is actually Scotland I am not sure, but it comes off well none the less. And the scenes where Cavendish is shooting pictures of Rosina are simply wonderful.
My only real complaint about the film was that it lacked a bit of subtance when it came to the family. I would have liked to have more explanation about why the family was so dysfunctional. The mother spends all of her time obsessing about London society, though she has never been there before. Charles Cavendish obsesses over his work and not much else, although he manages his to air bigotry and male chauvinism often enough. The daughter, Clementina, only cares about drawing attention to herself and does so by showing off her dead animals and telling her disturbing dreams to anyone who might listen, and Henry Cavendish spends most of his time chasing after Rosina and engaging in generally creepy behavior because he was drawn to her differences and because he liked to shock his family, as demonstrated by his expulsion from school due to being found in an opium den. What draws a family to act like this? I don't know, because it was never hashed out anywhere in the film, and I like to think that Scotland is probably not as dreary as this film portrays it, certainly not dreary enough to lead people to behave like this.
Overall, not a bad film though. I enjoyed it so much more the second time through. Definitely worthwhile for any fan of period dramas, Minnie Driver, or Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (who shines in every scene he is in.) If you like dark melodrama or gothic films this is a must see.
Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing.
Review: I bought this movie because it looked wonderful and it was filmed to make everything look its best. The biggest problem, however, was the story. Although this story shares much of the Jane Eyre mold, older man who isn't exactly the best looking, here, I could see nothing even remotely redeeming about Mr. Cavendish. He was not attractive, he was not charming, he was not moral -- but he was manipulative, mean, and weak. Yet this woman falls for him for almost no reason. I have never seen such horrible kissing on screen, and both actors looked oddly uncomfortable. It is also amazing that this jewess who is supposely religious, would fall so easly for a married man in this time period. Even in Jane Eyre once the older man was discovered to be married Jane would have nothing to do with him. Here, Mary just surrenders herself almost immediately betraying a current sensability that just doesn't fit with the rest of the story. Not to mention that she beds the son as well as the father. Plus frankly, the full frontal male nudity of Cavendish just really wasn't necessary. All and all skip this one no matter how good it looks.
Rating:
Summary: Minnie Driver provides a captivating and erotic performance
Review: I have to admit I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea of Minnie Driver playing a young Jewish girl in 19th century England who passes herself off as a Christian to obtain a position as a governess to a family on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. She just sounds too "modern" to me for any character she plays to really feel at home for me in a period costume drama. That being said, Driver's performance in "The Governess" is nonetheless compelling and one of the more erotic that I have seen recently, and that surprising development is what you will remember more from this film than anything else.
Driver is Rosina da Silva, the eldest daughter of a well-to-do family in the Sephardic Jewish community in London. Instead of dreaming of being married, Rosie longs to be an actress, inspired by her aunt, who sings on the stage. But then her father is murdered and the family is faced with a mountain of debts. Faced with the prospect of being married to a rich older man, Rosie places an advertisement in the papers claiming to be a proper young Christian woman, named Mary Blackchurch, looking for suitable employment as a governess. So she finds herself being transported to the wilds of Scotland, where the green seems to go on forever, pretending to be a Gentile gentlewoman.
"Mary" is employed by the Cavandishes to take care of their young daughter Clementina (Florence Hoath), who has to be threatened into obedience before a bond can form between them. Mrs. Cavendish (Harriet Walter) has a lemon where no one should have a lemon and dreams of the pleasures of London; the only problem is that she has never been there. Mr. Cavendish (Tom Wilkinson) spends all of his time working in his laboratory on something he thinks is too complicated by the delicate minds of women. But whereas his wife is clearly beyond understanding anything from the realm of science, the new governess shows not only understanding but interest and aptitude. There's is a meeting of the minds and then other parts of the body get involved as well.
A complication to their private idles is Clementina's older brother, Henry (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), who becomes infatuated by the young governess and never thinks that his own father is a rival for her affections. However, "Mary" wants a man and not a boy and while he would rather photograph his specimens she convinces him to photograph her as well. Thinking of the ancient Hebrews who made love while covered, she drapes a diaphanous cloth over herself in what becomes the basis for a series of subtly erotic photographs. Eventually, she will take some photographs of him as well. More importantly, she will help him solve the problem of fixing an image so that they do not fade.
Photography is a key part of this story and the gulf that divides the two lovers is defined more by their diametrically opposed approaches to the camera than by the differences in their genders and religion. He sees photography as simply a tool to help him make a scientific record of reality, while she takes the artistic view that it is an opportunity "to capture the essence of people and to fix a memory." Ultimately the meeting of the minds and bodies proves too much for Cavendish, who fears her superior intellect even more than he is shamed by her passionate nature. Rosie will not find happiness here, but she will learn what happiness will mean for her in the rest of her life.
Written and Directed by Sandra Goldbacher this 1998 film does make Rosie's Jewishness a key part of her character. Because he mother is Italian she has a convenient excuse for her olive complexion and can honestly say that she is not Catholic. She continues to practice her faith in private, although the Cavendishes are patently incapable of recognizing any of the trappings of her faith. Of course, if Cavendish knew that his lover was a Jewess he would no doubt be repulsed. But he is captivated by her eroticism, which Driver creates for Rosie. The great lesson here is being erotic is not how you look, but rather how you act, and in "The Governess" Minnie Driver proves she knows how to act.
Rating:
Summary: sexually charged film of obsession and betrayal
Review: I have to disagree with several viewers on the notion that this film lacked certain substance. Minnie Driver delivers a sexually ignited and thoughtful performance as Rosalina, "Mary", a 19th century woman forced to hide her true identity in Protestant and Conservative upper-class Scotland. She does this in order to support her destitute family in London after the murder of her father. She takes a governess position to the highly respected, upper-class Cavendish family. This family has a scientest patriarch consumed with his research in capturing photographic images on paper. He ignores his wife and children in order to conduct his work. He allows Mary to be his research assistant when he sees how intelligent and curious her mind is. I found it interesting that he refused to capture any images that represent human or living forms in his research. I felt that this reflected his inability to connect himself to other humans, including his bored and highly-proper wife. Mary comes into the picture and provides a burst of humanity and warmth in the stuffy and pretentious atmosphere. This warmth and presence that Minnie delivers so well on the screen, is irresistable to Mr. Cavendish, as well as his children. She brings this serious man out of his box and they begin a torrid affair. His wife is oblivious. She is in her own world most of the time. When Mr. Cavendish cannot accept that he has such intense feelings for Mary, he pushes her away. The ending, which I won't give away, was moving and quite satisfying. I thought the film was beautifully done, in particular the scenes where Mary is posing for the camera. Minnie Driver looks like she stepped out of a painting from antiquity. Even though Tom Wilkinson (Mr. Cavendish) is not your stereotypical Hollywood "hunk", he provides the sexual chemistry of a man obsessed. This makes his performance not only challenging, but rewarding. Mary loves him on many levels, not just physical ones, but they connect in their minds as well as their hearts.
Rating:
Summary: sexually charged film of obsession and betrayal
Review: I have to disagree with several viewers on the notion that this film lacked certain substance. Minnie Driver delivers a sexually ignited and thoughtful performance as Rosalina, "Mary", a 19th century woman forced to hide her true identity in Protestant and Conservative upper-class Scotland. She does this in order to support her destitute family in London after the murder of her father. She takes a governess position to the highly respected, upper-class Cavendish family. This family has a scientest patriarch consumed with his research in capturing photographic images on paper. He ignores his wife and children in order to conduct his work. He allows Mary to be his research assistant when he sees how intelligent and curious her mind is. I found it interesting that he refused to capture any images that represent human or living forms in his research. I felt that this reflected his inability to connect himself to other humans, including his bored and highly-proper wife. Mary comes into the picture and provides a burst of humanity and warmth in the stuffy and pretentious atmosphere. This warmth and presence that Minnie delivers so well on the screen, is irresistable to Mr. Cavendish, as well as his children. She brings this serious man out of his box and they begin a torrid affair. His wife is oblivious. She is in her own world most of the time. When Mr. Cavendish cannot accept that he has such intense feelings for Mary, he pushes her away. The ending, which I won't give away, was moving and quite satisfying. I thought the film was beautifully done, in particular the scenes where Mary is posing for the camera. Minnie Driver looks like she stepped out of a painting from antiquity. Even though Tom Wilkinson (Mr. Cavendish) is not your stereotypical Hollywood "hunk", he provides the sexual chemistry of a man obsessed. This makes his performance not only challenging, but rewarding. Mary loves him on many levels, not just physical ones, but they connect in their minds as well as their hearts.
Rating: 
Summary: Minnie Driver is wonderful in THE GOVERNESS.
Review: I loved Minnie Driver in AN IDEAL HUSBAND and she gets to expand her talents in The Governess. If you love period pieces and good drama, this is a wonderful movie. The ending might have been a little more 'dramatized' but it was a delight never the less.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful, touching, heart-felt movie.
Review: I was aroused and touched by the ascending affair between Charles and Mary which climaxed with her declaration that she loved him so much that she would even let him "suck the marrow from her bones". Poor Charles is so inhibited that he can not even undress to make love, and yet the sweet, sensual jewess continues to poor her heart out to him. Finally, when she can bear his repression and cruelty no longer, Charles recognizes Mary's true worth and finds his life is empty without her. This love story is poignant, yet beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: unrealistic script, beautiful videography
Review: I was drawn to "The Governess" because I found it on the late Ofra Haza's site. It seems that everytime Rosa/Mary goes further from her Jewishness her conscience manifests itself in Ofra's chants (which are NOT Sefaredi, but Yemenite, and NOT the same). The attempt to recreate Sefaredi lifestyle seemed totally unrealistic (Ashkenazi Torah scroll, prostitutes who use Yiddish instead of Ladino, men and women dancing right next to each other). I read that the author of "The Governess" has a Jewish father and Scottish mother. Apparently he assumes that a Sefaredi woman would easily give her virginity to a Scottish gentile and then have relations with his son who is even more disgusting than him, though historically Jewish women have chosen SUICIDE rather than do so (most recently in Sana, Yemen w/a young Jewess jumping off of a high cliff rather than marrying a Yemeni gentile and during the Holocaust in Europe when Jewish girls ingested poison rather than submit), yet suddenly our Jewess is SEDUCING an INNOCENT SCOTT! And where do those Jews in London live? Right next to a brothel of course! Also, why does Rosa reveals her breasts to those prostitutes (and that's BEFORE the pressure for her to marry $ even arises)? Is that her competition? Maybe that's how the author views Jewish women? Even though the soft, pastel colours were rich and pleasant both in Scotland (what dramatic lighting in his lab!), the synagogue in London and their house in London, I felt disgusted by the movie's cheapening of Jewish women (and NO, I don't see it as a playing out of the Esther model since her people are not a risk in Scotland, Rosa/Mary just wants to be an actress, which I think is a play on prostitution).
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes, More is Too Much
Review: I was very interested in seeing "The Governess" and fairly lept at the opportunity to do so when my friend Marion suggested it. What a disappointment! Haven't been so let down since "Murder on the Orient Express" as a child. What's the matter? The major problem is that there's just too much crammed into the movie as plot devices. Why not deal with just a few circumstances, than have all this tumult which in the end, doesn't even signify? Interesting premise in a nutshell description: A 19th century Jewish woman must conceal her religion as she takes up a governess position. That's how it was presented, and frankly, that's enough. No, how about her father gets murdered in the street! Well, that was shocking, but what of it? It never got solved, it never figured in the rest of the movie. I mean, he could have just, you know, died. Why murdered? Then she goes off to the dreariest place in all of Scotland. The master of the house keeps trying to make early photographs. The Governess takes it upon herself to solve his problems developing film by dumping salt in his solutions. Hey what do you know, he evidently gets credited as the inventor of the photograph, when it was really The Governess. Well, what about that? Couldn't that be a good feminist statement in and of itself? No, let's begin a torrid, somewhat unmotivated affair. Then she takes nude photos of him for a change. Uh-oh, that's the limit, too vulnerable a position for a man. Finally, she's off to London again as a photographer in her own right, and guess who walks into the salon...? Enough already. I just found it more preposterous as it went on. I was more than willing to accept some off-the-beaten-track developments, but this was aimless messing about. No motivation or follow-through. Take a lesson from me; avoid "The Governess".
Rating:
Summary: some minor corrections on the basic story...
Review: i wonder--does anyone review movies they actually stayed AWAKE during?? firstly, minnie driver's character is NOT named "mary." her name is rosina. in order to find employment with a "gentile" family, she posed as "mary blackchurch" (she told her brother the name sounded biblical). also, rosina was NOT about to be "sent off to marry a man that she did not love" before her father died. (i wonder if that was another movie entirely?) rosina was never being married off by her parents or anyone else. it was her father's death which PROMPTED talk of possibly marrying, due to her father leaving his family "destitute" UPON his death. rosina mentioned to her younger sister that she had hit it off with a man (at a jewish dance after temple) whom she supposedly kissed and might be interested in. after her father's death, rosina opted to go off in search for employment to help support her family rather than remain and marry ANYONE for stability (either her preferred young man or any other--including an older and less desirable man who was introduced to her by her mother and aunt.)
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