The Governess

Minnie Driver stars in this period drama about a young Jewish woman who, following the brutal murder of her wealthy father, is forced to take a position as a nanny to a family in the wilds of Scotland in order to pay the bills. After a while, she and the man of the house begin a passionate affair., Minnie Driver stars in this intriguing drama as a Jewish woman who disguises her true identity to obtain a position as a governess in Victorian-era Scotland. She is soon drawn into an illicit affair with her married employer (Tom Wilkinson). Through a mutual love for photography, the two develop an insular relationship removed from the normal strictures of class distinction. Harriet Walter, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers., Period drama about a young Jewish woman in the mid-19th century who lies about her religion to obtain a position with a Scottish family, where she finds herself drawn to the husband by their shared interest in photography. They begin an affair which is further complicated when the son of the family finds himself attracted to the governess, whose true identity he discovers., A Jewish woman in 19th-century England poses as a Gentile to work as a governess for a wealthy family. There, she becomes romantically involved with her employer., London TV commercials director Sandra Goldbacher made her feature directorial debut with this early Victorian England drama filmed on the Isle of Arran. In London, Rosina Da Silva (Minnie Driver) is shaken by the murder of her father, a wealthy Jewish merchant. To deal with family debts, Rosina places a classified ad in a local newspaper and gets a job as a nanny with a gentile family in Scotland. Adopting the name Mary Blackchurch and posing as a gentile, she joins the dysfunctional Cavendish family, caring for young Clementina (Florence Hoath) and fending off the advances of teen Henry (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). Head of the household is philologist and inventor Charles Cavendish (Tom Wilkinson), and when she gives Charles an assist on his photographic experiments, an affair develops. The music score features Eastern percussion backing singer Ofra Haza. Shown at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival.