X
  • 1998
  • R
  • Sony Pictures Classics
  • 1 h 55 m
  • 1998
  • R
  • Sony Pictures Classics
  • 1 h 55 m

Summary Set in early 1840's London, Rosina (Driver), the eldest daughter, rejects an arranged marriage and sets out to support her family after they fall into debt when her father is murdered. She finds it hard to locate a job because she is Jewish and invents a new identity to work as a governess.

Directed By: Sandra Goldbacher

Written By: Sandra Goldbacher

  • 1998
  • R
  • Sony Pictures Classics
  • 1 h 55 m
  • 1998
  • R
  • Sony Pictures Classics
  • 1 h 55 m

The Governess

Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 25 Critic Reviews
60
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Where to Watch

Summary Set in early 1840's London, Rosina (Driver), the eldest daughter, rejects an arranged marriage and sets out to support her family after they fall into debt when her father is murdered. She finds it hard to locate a job because she is Jewish and invents a new identity to work as a governess.

Directed By: Sandra Goldbacher

Written By: Sandra Goldbacher

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 25 Critic Reviews
60
68% Positive
17 Reviews
20% Mixed
5 Reviews
12% Negative
3 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 25 Critic Reviews
60
68% Positive
17 Reviews
20% Mixed
5 Reviews
12% Negative
3 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
The real wonder becomes how British filmmaker Sandra Goldbacher was able to write and direct such an accomplished, touching and original movie her first time out.
By Ruthe Stein FULL REVIEW
75
Goldbacher's film is lovely to look at, but the blurry heart of the film only suffers by the comparison.
By Ken Fox FULL REVIEW
75
The claustrophobic, isolated Victorian household is a stage on which every nuance, however small, is noticed.
By Roger Ebert FULL REVIEW
70
Minnie Driver gets a showy workout in The Governess, a beautifully crafted, if ultimately opaque, study of art, sensuality and outsider status in early Victorian England.
By Ken Eisner FULL REVIEW
63
Though Driver's offbeat beauty and Wilkinson's weathered visage make for an unlikely pairing, it works because their passion wells from something deeper than physical apperance. [31 Jul 1998]
By Robert Dominguez FULL REVIEW
50
Writer-director Sandra Goldbacher, a former BBC documentarian, fills the film with arid pauses, creating a claustrophobic study in ''repression.''
By Owen Gleiberman FULL REVIEW
10
The slogging melodrama that emerged still more closely resembles the daily musings of an infatuated teenager than a well-crafted, thoughtful story. [14 Aug 1998]
By Rita Kempley FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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Details

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Production Company Arts Council of England, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), British Screen Productions, Pandora Cinema, Parallax Pictures
Release Date Jul 31, 1998
Duration 1 h 55 m
Rating R
Genres
View All Details

Awards

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
Evening Standard British Film Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Dinard British Film Festival
• 1 Nomination

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