Synopsis
When the father of privileged Rosina da Silva violently dies, she decides to pass herself off as a gentile and finds employment with a family in faraway Scotland. Soon she and the family father, Charles, start a passionate secret affair.
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Cast
- Minnie DriverRosina da Silva
- Tom WilkinsonMr. Charles Cavendish
- Harriet WalterMrs. Cavendish
- Jonathan Rhys MeyersHenry Cavendish
- Florence HoathClementina Cavendish
- Arlene CockburnLily Milk, the Maid
- Emma BirdRebecca
- Adam LevyBenjamin
- Countess KoulinskyiAunt Sofka
- Bruce MyersRosina's Father
Recommendations
- 75
Chicago Tribune
The film, despite some over-obvious stretches, is mostly sad, lovely, moving, haunting. It's a striking and promising debut from a fine new filmmaker. [21 Aug 1998] - 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Once again, then, impeccable visual detail and uniformly strong performances combine to create a polished, if slightly airless, result. [14 Aug 1998] - 75
USA Today
Though not exactly dynamic, the movie offers insights into a specific culture. Ashley Rowe's photography is exquisite, and Driver has never been better. [14 Aug 1998] - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
The claustrophobic, isolated Victorian household is a stage on which every nuance, however small, is noticed. - 75
Christian Science Monitor
Driver gives a winning performance in a human-scaled story that avoids romantic clichs and gender stereotypes, although a few of both creep in from time to time. - 70
Chicago Reader
Goldbacher's story is not always convincing as history, but it's absorbing as a sort of gothic romance and sensually quite potent, and Driver carries it all with grace and authority. - 67
Austin Chronicle
The film is an atmospheric work, a period piece set in the 1840s during the dawn of the Age of Photography with a dense and moody visual style that befits its Brönte-esque subject matter. - 60
Empire
It's worth watching, though, for Minnie Driver, whose luminous performance as the governess in question struggles to save writer/director Goldbacher's film from the doldrums.
