ALBERT NOBBS

Albert Nobbs began its creative life as a short story included in a 1927 collection by Irish novelist George Moore, before hitting Broadway in a 1982 stage play of the same name. And in its 2011 big-screen adaptation, directed by Istvan Szabo, Glenn Close once again steps into the shiny black brogues of a waxy-faced, earnest little man with strange ways and a closet full of secrets. Although much will be made of the gender-bending element of the story – with Close, obviously, being a woman masquerading as a man, and she’s not the only one – at its heart Albert Nobbs is really about potential: dreamt of, strived towards, often thwarted. Nobbs fantasises about owning a tobacconist, with a parlour in the back for a wife and guests: in a word, worldly acceptance. Maid Helen Dawes (played beautifully by Mia Wasikowska) dreams of a bigger and better life – whether that will be via Nobbs or the boiler-popping lad Joe (Aaron Johnson) remains to be seen. It’s a quiet and wistful study of humans dreaming little dreams – namely, a certain man you won’t soon forget, called Albert Nobbs. (AB) ***