ALBERT NOBBS

ALBERT NOBBS
Written by Glenn Close and John Banville
Directed by Rodrigo Garcia
Starring Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Janet McTeer and Aaron Johnson


Dr. Hollaran: We are both disguised as ourselves.

Glenn Close first played the titular role of ALBERT NOBBS on stage nearly thirty years ago. She defined the role for the stage and has been trying to get the play, based on a short story, made into a film ever since. Her aspirations have finally been realized, resulting in what may be one of the finest turns this 5-time Oscar nominated actress has ever given. As Nobbs, she shines so brightly on screen by blending so perfectly into the background and going with as little notice as possible. And though her character is inherently humble, she is simply unforgettable.

At the turn of the 19th century, Albert Nobbs is going on thirty years or so as a servant in a popular British hotel. That’s three decades of knowing which guest prefers which flowers, when each guest takes their tea and keeping a rather significant secret. Albert is not the man he portends to be; Albert is actually a woman. Every day, she puts on her armour, including some rather constrictive binding to hide her chest, and faces the world in character. She fools everyone around her and has been doing such a good job at it for such a long time that she has very little idea of who the woman she used to be still is. Her finely woven web begins to unravel though when she meets another lady disguised as a man to get work (Janet McTeer, in an incredibly ballsy performance). Seeing her lead both a public and private life as a man shows her how her life of servitude has forced her to miss out on some of the finer things she never dreamed she could have.

ALBERT NOBBS deals with issues of identity and class with delicate care and all their due and it does so with a lighter than expected tone. The film, under the direction of Rodrigo Garcia (MOTHER AND CHILD), is unexpectedly amusing, deeply touching and an incredibly revealing character study. And despite the impressive efforts from the entire ensemble, including the young and talented Mia Wasikowska and Aaron Johnson, this is Close’s picture. It may have taken ALBERT NOBBS thirty years to reach the screen but that just may have been the time it needed to become this good.

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Black Sheep interviews Gus Van Sant

Meeting celebrated auteur, Gus Van Sant, to discuss his fourteenth feature film, RESTLESS, at the Toronto International Film Festival, certainly had my nerves on edge, given that I’m a bit of an admirer of his. It didn’t help matters much when he would pause and stare at me blankly for five or ten seconds after almost every question I asked. Fortunately, I realized very quickly that I was not the problem.

“You can definitely become overworked talking to the press,” Van Sant admits to me of the whirlwind that is the contemporary festival experience. “When I hit the five-hour mark, I start to get pretty spaced out.” Our interview was his last before lunch so that explained a lot.

The 59-year-old director returns to cinemas this fall with his first film since his 2008 masterpiece, MILK, which earned eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture as well as a second Best Director nod for Van Sant. (His first was for 1997’s GOOD WILL HUNTING.) And while RESTLESS is nowhere near as politically charged as MILK was, it does allow Van Sant to continue giving voices to the marginalized and the misunderstood. In his own words, “It’s a really interesting story about these two kids that are forced outside of their society. They bond together and become very close. It reminded me of a French love story.”

By French, he must mean tragic because what forces these two outside of their circles is death. Everyone’s favorite indie darling, Mia Wasikowska and endearing newcomer, Henry Hopper, play the two particular kids in question. Hopper is Enoch, a high school dropout who lost his parents in a car accident and now keeps the company of what is either the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot (Ryo Kase) or a very creative imaginary friend. Wasikowska plays Annabel, a free-spirited naturalist, who has just learned that she is going to die of cancer in a few short months. Their relationship and its youthful naiveté give Restless its unexpected whimsy.

The relief Enoch and Annabel find in each other is what drew Van Sant to the Jason Lew screenplay to begin with. “It’s common with younger cancer patients that they often make new friends with strange people,” he explains of their attraction. “Their regular support group is too devastated to keep their normal relationship going, because of the sadness.” Subsequently, the charming couple provide the audience with some much needed relief from their reality as well.

Coming of age in the face of death is a dichotomy that is not often explored on film and the wide spectrum of emotion that is inherent to the scenario makes RESTLESS a unique film experience. Still, Van Sant himself has a hard time differentiating it from his past work to some extent. “They pretty much all stand apart but at the same time, they’re all related,” he says of how RESTLESS figures amongst his oeuvres. When hard pressed though, Van Sant is able to give a tiny distinction to RESTLESS. “It’s the first time I’ve done something mirthful and yet tragic at the same time.”

Hopefully, it will not be his last.

This interview originally appeared in Hour Community.

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JANE EYRE

Written by Moira Buffini

Directed by Cary Fukunaga

Starring Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench, Jamie Bell

and Sally Hawkins

Jane Eyre: I wish a woman could have action in her life like a man.

It agitates me to know that the horizon is our limit.

A young lady with a stern, hard look on her face leaves a large stately manor. She makes her way into the rain-soaked fields that stretch on as far as she can see. Soon, she can no longer hold back her tears and they stream down her cheeks while she forges ahead toward an unknown destination, an undetermined future On the surface, the introduction to Cary Fukunaga’s second feature, and first major production, JANE EYRE, based on the Charlotte Bronte classic, can come off as dramatic, even overly so. Fortunately for him though, the woman walking this mile in Jane Eyre’s shoes is Mia Wasikowska and it is clear from one look at her that if anyone possesses the resolve to bear the burden of Eyre’s hardships, she does.

There is a particular brand of period piece that always seems to feature women who just don’t fit into the molds society expects they should. Jane Eyre, taken in as a child by her aunt (Sally Hawkins) after her parents passed, has never been looked upon as though she matters. She has always been plain in the face and difficult to control, which renders her somewhat useless, as the only purpose a woman held at the time was to be married off. An uncontrollable tongue needs at least be camouflaged by a pretty face to make it worth the trouble. She grows up surrounded by attempts to make her conform but emerges from the torture triumphant when she pursues a position as a tutor to a young girl who comes from reasonable means. While she continues to be reminded of her place in her new surroundings, she also finds herself the object of affection of the master of the house, Mister Edward Rochester (the strapping, sturdy Michael Fassbender). No one has ever loved her before and suddenly her years of abuse endured show their far reaching ramifications.

Fukunaga entered the world film scene with his brilliant immigration drama, SIN NOMBRE (click for review) in 2009. His eye for understated beauty and sensitivity shown to character in that film are put to great use in JANE EYRE. Like his heroine, the sets and costumes are all spectacular but matted as not to overwhelm. Instead, they are further appreciated for their restraint and delicacy and the same can be said of the entire cast, led by another surprisingly potent performance by Wasikowska. She plays Eyre with so many layers that even she seems unaware of them all at times. She claims to have no tale of woe when asked what hardships she has had to suffer through and her determination to carry on despite everything she’s known is certainly commendable. However, as strong a woman as she is, she cannot escape unscathed, forcing her to learn that love for one’s self is a challenge that is always ongoing. As for allowing one’s self to be loved by another, that takes a strength we may not even know we have and this is what JANE EYRE embodies.

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THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Written by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg

Directed by Lisa Cholodenko

Starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson and Mark Ruffalo

Joni: Each of my mom’s used your sperm.

Paul: As in two? As in both of them?

Joni: Uh-huh, as in gay.

I don’t know if anyone has told you this already but family can be fairly complicated. Take Nic and Jules (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) for example. They’ve been together for about 20 years and have two teenage children, one of which (Mia Wasikowska) is about to head off to college. The other (Josh Hutcherson) is somewhat aimless in his adolescent life and decides he needs to know more about where he came from. More specifically, he wants to meet the man who supplied the sperm that made both him and his sister possible. Enter Mark Ruffalo and along with him a disaster of familial proportion.

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT is the fourth film by Lisa Cholodenko, who has regularly explored the nature of complicated relationships and what happens to them when those involved make mistakes they know could crumble their foundations. Deciding to meet sperm donor, Paul (Ruffalo), is not that mistake. His introduction into this family’s life though certainly seems to have given all its members free reign to act out. Naturally, his emergence puts Nic and Jules into a tailspin and how they each approach the situation exposes some of the couple’s deeper issues. Bening and Moore play the couple so perfectly, you can feel a palpable sense of unbalance in the way they treat each other and an urgency to survive. It’s as though years of experiences, both great and harrowing, have been worked into their collective performances.

While Nic and Jules struggle with feelings of inadequacy and replacement, their kids, Joni and Laser (Wasikowska and Hutcherson) try hard to see themselves in Paul. When all three sit to talk for the first time, it is apparent that both nature and nurture played a part in the two kids’ growth. The delicate nature of the introduction is almost lost on the kids because they simply don’t know better. They don’t know that you can go from relating to feeling completely alien in a matter of seconds and that when that happens with the father you never met, the damage can be severe. In their innocence, they thought they wanted something but could never have truly prepared for what they got. And the same can be said for Paul. The potential of family woos him into thinking his life is empty and it isn’t long before he tries any way he can to latch on. Ruffalo is the consummate boy pretending he can be a real man.

Cholodenko has learned to breathe in the six years since her last feature. THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT is like a breeze with a bit of a bite on the back end. As awkward and troubling as all these interactions are, they pass by smoothly and make for a refreshing film – one where a fantastic cast portray real people with equally real problems that deal with them like a good family should, with sensitivity, solidarity and a little humour to keep the mood light. Yes, the kids are all right but the movie is even better.

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