I knew very little about Notes on a Scandal
before going into it, and boy! was I in for a surprise. I
was aware that both Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench had received
numerous award nominations for their performances, and I had
the basic gist of the plot down, but I had no idea what a
thrill-ride was in store for me.
The film tells the tale of the events that follow
after an experienced teacher, Barbara (Dench) discovers her
young coworker Sheba (Blanchett) involved in an illicit and
illegal love affair with a fifteen year old student. Not only
does this story seem torn from the pages of newspapers worldwide,
but the film itself could be torn from reality entirely. There
is hardly an element of the film which feels anything less
than genuine and foremost of these elements are the performances
of the two leads. Both are extremely complex individuals,
and have such depth that it's near impossible to see them
as roles and not real people.
Judi Dench follows a long line of outstanding
performances with this intricate and often disturbing role.
As the elderly Barbara, Dench paints the portrait of a lonely
woman, so afraid of dying without a companion, so repressed
in her sexuality, and so utterly mad that there were scenes
of both extreme sympathy, and those that sent shivers down my
spine. Her manipulations and twisted perceptions drive the film,
and we see everything from her perspective, so it affects the
plot much more overtly than if she were simply a sideline crazy
we saw periodically.
Blanchett is no less powerful, as the vulnerable
teacher, caught in a bad decision, being used by Barbara to
her own ends. Sheba is the antithesis to Barbara: idealistic,
naive, and caring. Having just ended a decade of caring for
her Downs Syndrome son, she has entered the working world as
an art teacher, eager to make a difference. And make a difference
she does, especially for one fifteen year old boy (Andrew Simpson)
who effectively seduces her into a secret affair and causes
her to put her career and family life in jeopardy. Her most
regrettable mistake, however, is confiding in Barbara, and allowing
her to steer her into what she sees as a lifelong romantic companionship.
As the two face off, when things look as though they could get
no bleaker, it is a potent shock to see normally demure and
cautious Sheba hold her own against the controlling and aggressive
Barbara.
The film raises the interesting issue of what
role age plays in a relationship. Not only is there the obvious
age difference between Sheba and her student, but that between
her and her husband (Bill Nighy), who is significantly older
than she, and married her when he was her teacher in University.
To complicate the quandry, Barbara is also quite a number
of years Sheba's elder, yet she has a tendency to fall for,
and become obsessed with much younger women. While the movie
gives no answer, and never claims to, it successfully leaves
the viewer thinking on the issue, perhaps more than any other.
The film is well directed by Richard Eyre, who
spins the smart words of screenwriter Patrick Marber (Closer)
in a tapestry of intrigue and emotion. Barbara's twisted mind
and perspective are further articulated by Philip Glass' haunting
score. As usual, his staccato, atonal repetitions create a
sense of unease which only heightens the actions in the film.
I think this is one of the most all-around well-done movies
of 2006, and should be a strong contender in almost any category
come the quickly approaching award season, especially for
Dench, Blanchett, Glass, and Marber. Though I may have said
too much for anyone to have the same shocking experience of
unseen twists I did, this movie is well worth your time and
money. You'll leave the theater telling yourself what a gold-star
film you have just seen.
