Nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Actress & Best Supporting Actress

A stunning performance by Glenn Close highlights this fascinating tale of a woman living as a man in Nineteenth-century Ireland

Starring Glenn Close, Janet McTeer, Mia Wasikowska, Brendan Gleeson, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Albert Nobbs unfolds within the opulent rooms of Dublin’s most luxurious hotel, a place designed for the enjoyment of the privileged class. For those who live and work there, however, private dramas are unfolding. Take Albert, the shy butler. He keeps to himself for a very good reason. Albert has been hiding a secret for a very long time. Albert is actually a woman. Nineteenth-century Ireland was not an easy place for a single woman of no means. To keep herself from destitution’s door, Albert (Glenn Close) has spent over twenty years pretending to be a man. By now it would seem that nothing could spoil her immaculate ruse, but when a handsome painter arrives at the hotel, Albert is tempted to let the mask she’s worn for so long slip away. Based on a short story by George Moore, the film benefits immeasurably from its adaptation, the fruit of a collaboration between Close and Booker Prize–winning author John Banville. Their witty exchanges are handled with utter finesse by the cast, which also features Mia Wasikowska, Brendan Gleeson, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Together they will transport you into the past — to meet a woman ahead of her time. (UK/Ireland, 2011, 113 min, color, 35mm • Director:Rodrigo García • Writers: Glenn Close & John Banville • 2011 Toronto International Film Festival)