The Governess (1998)

Miinie Driver heads an exceptional cast, including Tom Wilkinson, Harriet Walker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Florence Hoath, in BBC Films' "The Governess".

This film tells the story of a privileged young woman who by concealing her identity rediscovers herself.

Rosina da Silve (Minnie Driver) leads a sheltered life among London's vibrant Sephardic Jewish community of the 1840's. But after the sudden death of her father and the need to find employment, she assumes a false identity as Mary Blackchurch, a gentile governess, and finds a position with the wealthy Cavendish family who live on a remote Scottish island.

There she is drawn into their strange world and her employer Charles Cavendish's (Tom Wilkinson) experimental work in the embryonic process of photography.

In this bleak and troubled household, Rosina becomes fascinated by the obsessive Charles and his work and finds a release in an overwhelming passion that changes her world, at a high and emotional cost.