Plot When free-spirit Sheba (Blanchett) wafts into her school, bitter teacher Barbara (Dench) sees a chance for friendship. But things turn sinister after she discovers Sheba’s affair with a pupil.
Review
Judi Dench is not what you’d consider the stuff of nightmares. She’s more the stuff of stern, yet kindly, queens; blustery elderly ladies in big hats; and matronly keepers of British national secrets/tellers-off of 007. Notes On A Scandal might not fall within the realm of horror or even traditional thriller, but it turns Dench into something utterly terrifying, instilling lonely desperate teacher Barbara with flesh-creeping menace. She’s Hannibal Lecter in drip-dry knitwear.
From the moment Barbara lurks disapprovingly onto the screen, her face a clenched fist of resentments, Dench looms over Richard Eyre’s taut drama, despite rarely taking centre stage. She can skulk on the farthest edges of the screen and still pull attention from everyone else in shot. An early voiceover crutch, in which we hear the venom Barbara would like to spew over her co-workers, quickly becomes superfluous. Dench does not need words to let you know how she feels about someone. She can do it with the reproachful incline of her head or the haughty adjustment of her handbag strap.
The victim of much of her disappointment, and even more disquieting affection, is Bohemian teacher (Blanchett), who’s every bit the woolly-headed flibbertigibbet her trustafarian name suggests. Tempted into a greasy, fumbling affair with a 15 year-old student by the erotic combination of flattery, danger and Clearasil, finds herself quickly in thrall to Barbara, who discovers her giving her charge the kind of oral exam frowned upon by the education board and, indeed, the law. The decision to cast an actor of near enough real schoolboy age (gawky, pleading-eyed Andrew Simpson), rather than a fresh-faced but well-out-of-short-trousers Orlando Bloom type hammers home the awfulness of Sheba’s actions in a way most films would shy from. There’s nothing romantic in their connection, just something insidiously creepy and wrong.
Eyre ratchets up the tension as Barbara uses her sordid new information to draw into a false friendship, ingratiating herself into ’s home where she quietly loathes her husband, children and general wealthy hippy lifestyle. She smiles her lipsticked dagger of a smile, but she’s constantly on the brink of fury. And when it comes, in short, sharp, vitriolic bursts, it’s frightening — yet she’s not a total monster; there are moments when Barbara breaks your heart. This is a woman so desperate for an affection she’s never felt that she’s turned it into something to be kept and guarded and never shared. Her selection of is almost arbitrary. She shows little real liking for her, just a desire to contain something pretty and admirable.
It’s one of the film’s few failings that it makes the motivations behind Barbara’s cosying up to a little too explicit. There’s more menace and sadness when it seems that even Barbara is unaware that she wants more from than an occasional cup of tea. A significant confrontation scene plays a little false as both women suddenly become emotional geysers, venting everything that’s gone unsaid but clearly understood. But it’s a single misstep in a film that excels in all areas and very rarely opts for an easy way out.
Verdict Intelligent, classy and skin-crawling. You won’t see a better acting masterclass this year.
very good film, Judi dench is incredible as always. but what is with the review, it's riddled with grammatical errors. i had to read some sentences more than once, thinking it was me not concentrating. totally unforgivable ... Read More
My wife picked this up on a cheapie from Asda and I'm so glad she did. Someone made reference to it as an "acting masterclass" and that's probably hitting the nail squarely on the head. Wonderful, tempered performances from all involved. Give it a try if you haven't already. ... Read More
L: Fluke Skywalker
I have to say that Judi Dench makes this whole movie so entertaining to watch - in fact she is so good she makes someone like Cate Blanchett look like an amateur.
As for the film, forget the unbelievability of the relationship between the teacher and the boy, Blanchett's cringe making family and dodgy dancing, this is all about the Dame.
You'd be hard pressed to find a more caustic bitter old hag committed to screen than the one portayed by her... Read More
Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Bill Nighy, to me, gave the best performance of their lives so far. A skin-crawling type of movie. Utterly mind-bending and mesmerizing. By far, one of the best movies ever made. Great Movie. One hell of a thriller. ... Read More
I have to say that Judi Dench makes this whole movie so entertaining to watch - in fact she is so good she makes someone like Cate Blanchett look like an amateur.
As for the film, forget the unbelievability of the relationship between the teacher and the boy, Blanchett's cringe making family and dodgy dancing, this is all about the Dame.
You'd be hard pressed to find a more caustic bitter old hag committed to screen than the one portayed by her. She is a j... Read More
I sat down with my family a few nights ago and placed “Notes on a Scandal” into the DVD player with some resentment as the theme was not to my usual taste. I was engrossed in the film as soon as I pressed the “play” button. I could not turn my eyes away from the utterly mesmerising movie as Judi Dench’s sly, bitter tone nervously tickled down my spine as she narrated the tale. Cate Blanchett’s marvelous acting gleamed through her character’s eyes as her ... Read More
This film did do justice to the book by casting such good actors but did not even begin to capture the really excellently depicted narrative and writing. Dench was so strong in her part she somewhat skewed and unbalanced the film's dynamics so that Sheba Hart the art teacher and Connolly the boy she has an affair with who are at the dead centre of the novel get marginalised and pushed sideways.I thought that Blanchet as good as she is does not really capture the part and comes across a liitle la... Read More
Like many people have said, Judi Dench is outstanding in this movie, perhaps even at her best ever. The other cast is great too, especially Winslet. It got a bit too dark and creepy for my liking at the end, but still, a brilliant movie. ... Read More
Excellent acting all ways round, and for the most part very well written.
Not necessarily a particularly enjoyable film in places, but certainly worth watching. ... Read More
Classic
Excellent
Good
Fair
Tragic
