What a peculiar little story. Based on a short story, we find a man named Albert Nobbs, working as a waiter in a 19th century Dublin hotel. Witness the expected upstairs/downstairs drama, however this one comes with a little secret. Nobbs is a woman, played to stunning perfection by Glenn Close.
The story of the film tends to follow too worn a path. Nobbs has saved money, wants to be independent, open his own shop. Maybe take a wife. Enter manly young competition. What to do? This part of the film is fine, held up by a strong supporting cast. But what makes it so interesting is Nobbs’ past, and the interesting method through which it’s revealed to us: he meets Hubert Page, a tall painter… who’s also a woman disguised as a man (played beautifully as well by Janet McTeer).
So while the story of the film is fairly expected, Glenn Close behind those eyes of the man Albert Nobbs is undeniably one of my favorite performances of 2011. He’s quiet, shy, uncertain about himself but so assured in his role at the hotel. Because of this quiet, Close puts so much hope, pain, worry, shock, surprise, sadness in those eyes that you can’t look away. Look at the trailer (as always, linked to in the title above), at the scene near the end, when a character exclaims “I think you are the strangest man I’ve ever met.” Nobbs accepts this (compliment?) with an quick steal of a glance, as if any direct eye contact will reveal his secret. “The eyes are the window to our soul’, it is said, and so liars look away as they spin their tale. I think that’s the lovely basis of Close’s performance in her eyes; it helps that Nobbs, as a waiter, mustn’t look anyone in the eye anyway. Watching him open up when he encounter’s McTeer’s character, who’s tall and confident and dominating and unashamed, is like cracking a hard shell and getting a peek inside. I’d like to watch it again just to track how Nobbs’ eyes slowly open up and let people in. It’s a testament to the actor behind those eyes, and that’s what’s great about this film: Glenn Close’s performance.
ALSO: This marks three major films released in theaters last year that deal directly with gender identity (Tomboy, Pariah). I hope there are more; they make for some interesting human drama.
