Product Details

• Actors: Minnie Driver, Tom Wilkinson, Harriet Walter, Florence Hoath, Bruce Myers
• Directors: Sandra Goldbacher
• Writers: Sandra Goldbacher
• Producers: Cathy Lord, Sally Hibbin, Sarah Curtis
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: August 24, 1999
• Run Time: 115 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767811429
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,070 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Minnie Driver stars as an impoverished Jewish woman, Mary, living in an emphatically anti-Semitic England in the mid-19th century. Following the murder of her beloved father--who leaves his survivors strapped with his debts--she camouflages her identity as a Protestant of Italian descent and takes a job as governess to an unorthodox Scottish family. In this film by Sandra Goldbacher, sundry conventions from Victorian novels mix with a contemporary, feminist take on Mary's subsequent adventures. Mary asserts, with some effort, her authority over her willful charge (Florence Hoath); she dodges the insults of a vaguely ghoulish matriarch (Harriet Walter); and she becomes an aide, confidante, and lover to the man of the house (Tom Wilkinson), a naturalist dabbling with early experiments in photography. Goldbacher fails to make it all feel as fully realized as it could be (much of the detail and soul of Mary's life in London is too telescoped and impressionistic to sink in). But the film's middle section, in which the heroine's complicity with Wilkinson's married character engages her keen intelligence as well as her untapped sensuality, is deeply felt. It's nice to see Driver prove she can carry a film, though the dreamy, exotic photography by Ashley Rowe certainly pulls a viewer along as well. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better the second time around... a family in need of Freud, September 7, 2004

By 

Karusichan "Karusichan" (Lansing, MI. USA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Governess (DVD)

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.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ahh...romance in Scotland....with Jonathan, July 7, 2002

By 

Valerie Miller (Thousand Oaks, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Governess (DVD)

My interest in The Governess was piqued when I heard that Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (as Henry Cavendish) appears in a decidedly supporting - but delicious role. Having seen some of his previous films (Velvet Goldmine and Ride with the Devil) I was very pleased to see that this film was a departure for him as he is usually cast as a theatrically effeminate villian-type. Here, he plays the young love-lorn son of the vindictive lord of the Manor played by Tom Wilkinson. He hopelessly pines for Rosina (Minnie Driver) and is crushed at the end when his affections are denied. I was glad to see his normally over-the-top acting style was gracefully curtailed yet intense at the same time. It's long and tedious at times (as most British films tend to crawl by for American audiences), but at the end, it seems like you have just had the satisfaction of reading a poignant bestselling novel. The movie itself has the complex and metaphoric plot of a good novel, but keeps to a central character without dallying in unrelated side-plots. I like this movie for grey, rainy afternoons on the couch with a friend who is a novelist. Or not. Forget that, watch it whenver you like. It's good anytime. Watch it for culture and perspective.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars sexually charged film of obsession and betrayal, August 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Governess [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.