For sure, characters that watch and wait, like Albert Nobbs, can be unsettling, no matter how Chaplinesque and well meaning. Desire denied has its disturbing shadow element, and as Albert dreams of a fulfilled life, his delusion and repression radiate an uncomfortable air.
Characters as out of touch and desperate as Albert Nobbs awaken an instinctive doubt and distrust in an audience. Now in a story meant to be read, this distasteful edge would not be present. Nor would it be present onstage. But the poetic equation of this kind of tale, which would function metaphorically and suggestively in another medium, becomes literal and real in the rougher medium of the screen.
And realism's demands push us in directions that do Albert Nobbs - and the film "Albert Nobbs" - no favors. There is an undeniable ick factor, borne in part by Close's viability and detailed and strong acting.
If she weren't so good in the role, Albert might be easier to take, but as it stands, she is a convincing, mysterious and, to be honest, repellent person, one who is alert to others in a way that would freak people out. Still, as a years-after-the-fact record of what Close once did onstage, the movie has some value. McTeer is wonderfully inspired and vital as Mr. As Judith Butler would argue, the surface enactment is enough to signal gender, which for Hubert and Albert, if not for all of us, has no depth anyway.
Close plays Albert in that scene as entranced with his feminine attire, despite his clumsiness with its draping. His bonnet falls onto his back and he runs ahead of Page, arms stretched out, catching the wind in his hair. Page looks on, amused. For him, femininity has long lost its interest or its necessity. Albert can barely express himself; throughout the film, he casts his gaze down or away, rarely making eye contact.
And yet what we see is the shadow of a man, whose excitement is kindled not by emotional connection but by the possibility of rearranging her living situation to improve her economics.
Startled by her complaint, Albert obliges by pecking her cheek, sending Helen running back to the virile if corrupt Joe Mackins. Close sits on the landing in the film, too, but without the critical comment of the play, he seems simply strange. The film, however, can paint the lives around Albert with richer contrasting detail. Baker enables their assignations, and their unfettered heterosexual energy permeates the place.
Even Mrs. When Helen finds herself pregnant and she and Joe fight about their future, Albert tries to rescue her by offering to take care of her and the child. For his chivalry, Joe pushes him violently and he falls into the hallway wall, giving Albert the head injury that kills him.
He dies alone, his money buried under his floor, where Mrs. Baker finds it and uses it to employ Hubert to paint her entire hotel. The doctor who finds Albert shakes his head over the miserable circumstances in which people live.
Helen has her baby, which she names Albert. The film is smart and sweet, sad and atmospheric. By contrast, when Hubert unbuttons his jacket and opens it wide to show Albert his bountiful, unfettered breasts, he demonstrates a lovely ease with the contradictions of his female flesh and his masculine self.
Albert Nobbs does a fine job of narrating the gains and losses incurred along the continuum the two characters represent.
Link to original post on Blogspot. In the evening he goes to visit Hubert and also to return a button. He is surprised that Hubert and his wife are so normal. They insist he stay for dinner.
In the parlor while dinner is being prepared Albert and Hubert chat. Hubert suggests maybe Albert find a Cathleen of his own. Hubert asks for Albert's story. Albert was a bastard of noble birth and he was raised by a woman, Mrs. Nobbs, who was paid to raise him. Nobbs knew who he was but did not give him any familial background.
He was educated at a convent but after his mother died and the money stopped he had to leave the convent. He ended up living around rough indecent people. Nobbs died when he was 14 and Albert was assaulted by a group of men. After the assault he found a hand me down suit and he found a job as a waiter. He continued to work all over the UK as a waiter. He had been doing the job ever since.
At dinner Nobbs loosens up a bit even telling a joke over the meal. After dinner the group teaches Albert to roll a cigarette. Hubert says he will need to know how to roll a cigarette if he is going to be a tobacconist.
In the cemetery Helen and Joe are walking. Joe is telling his story. He was an abused child. He only refrained from killing his father by thinking of hopping a boat and going to America. Helen and Joe kiss in the cemetery. On the way back to Morrison's an old woman is admiring Nobbs in the horse drawn taxi.
In the stairwell after a party Nobbs asks Helen out put she refuses. That night Joe tells her to let Nobbs take her out and see how much money he has. She is surprised but the next day she does what she is told. Helen is late for their date. They wander around awkwardly before Helen shows interest in a coffee shop. They awkwardly walk in and Helen admires some chocolates. Albert buys Helen two boxes of chocolates. On their way home Helen reveals that she worked in a drapers and lived in a room above the shop.
Albert smiles and thinks that that fits well with his fantasy. At home in his room Albert is counting his money. The chocolates were expensive and he is concerned about the cost.
His fantasy of owning a shop and having a wife to run the counter encourages him to move forward, however. In Joe's room Helen presents him with the box of chocolates.
He asks her if that is it, as if expecting more. She says yes and he says she needs to get more next time and suggests that she get a bottle of whiskey. She protests but eventually agrees after Joe tells her he is going to get them out of the country and take them to America where he thinks he has better chances of being successful.
On their next date Albert takes Helen to the empty shop he had visited before and paints her a picture of what it could be like living and working there.
She shrugs at his dreams. Helen storms off saying she spent her life trying to get out of places like that. She thanks him for the whiskey and the hat and leaves. Back at the hotel Helen presents the whiskey to Joe who takes a swig and tells her that she will screw a couple of quid out of Albert next time she see's him.
She is initially disagreeable. After Joe asks how she thinks they are going to get to America she she agrees and leaves. She does not get her chance because Typhoid sweeps through the town killing an employee and making Albert sick. The hotel is put under quarantine at Mrs. Bakers displeasure. During the outbreak Helen tells Joe she is pregnant and he reacts violently.
After he calms down he tells her he will take care of her. Later Albert is well he comes down for breakfast. He asks if everyone made it through the outbreak. He is especially interested in Helen's health. Helen is fine but Patrick, another employee, passed and so did a few hundred other towns people. Alarmed Albert goes to visit Hubert. Seeing the black cloth covering the windows Albert is even more alarmed. He knocks but no one answers until he starts to walk away.
Hubert lets him in. He is mourning the lose of his wife.
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