Notes on a Scandal is a 2006 British drama/psychological thriller film on DVD, adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Zoë Heller.
When Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett) joins St. George's as the new art teacher, Barbara Covett (Judi Dench) senses a kindred spirit. But Barbara is not the only one drawn to her. Sheba begins an illicit affair and Barbara becomes the keeper of her secret. Notes on a Scandal is a story of loneliness, loyalty, envy and love.
Notes on a Scandal Review
A salacious description of “Notes on a Scandal” would emphasize the illicit affair at its core, between an art teacher and her 15-year-old pupil, who hardly looks as if he need invest in a shaver. That's the ripped from today's headlines angle – the one that might draw in fans of the Lifetime channel. But forbidden sex is merely a come-on, not the substance of this superlative British drama boasting Oscar-caliber performances from Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. Like Shakespeare and the great biblical stories, it insightfully explores the unpredictability of human behavior when jealously becomes a motivating factor.
The dialogue by eminent playwright Patrick Marber is literate without sounding pretentious. Adapting Zoe Heller's novel (short-listed for the Man Booker Prize), Marber proves far more adept at capturing the way characters talk in movies than he was in his script for “Closer,” based on his own play.
Voice-overs often are an annoying distraction. In “Scandal,” however, the narration is essential to understanding the workings of a disturbed mind. Embittered schoolteacher Barbara Covett, brought chillingly to life by Dench, maintains a professional facade, confessing her true feelings only in volumes of notebooks. Bridget Jones' diaries these are not.
In a clipped voice devoid of emotion, Dench reads Barbara's spiteful thoughts on the inadequacies of her colleagues and working-class students – “the future plumbers and shop clerks,” as she disdainfully calls them. But her curiosity is piqued by the arrival of a new staff member, Sheba (Blanchett). Never married, Barbara clearly is sexually attracted to the tall, graceful, upper-crust novice, who is determined to take a stab at a career after a decade spent caring for a son with Down syndrome.
Dench and Blanchett brilliantly portray the way the two misread each other. The guileless Sheba befriends Barbara with no notion of the evil of which she's capable, while the latter interprets the younger woman's companionship as akin to courtship.
Invited to a family supper, Barbara sees only Sheba's handicapped child and much older husband (Bill Nighy, bringing enormous depth to a small role), a rival who could be conquered, missing the love and joy permeating their household.
All of this might make Sheba's subsequent sexual relationship with an underage art student hard for some in the audience to comprehend. The screenplay (and presumably the novel) doesn't really try to explain it. Lust is pretty inexplicable anyway, even when you're not breaking the law.
Barbara discovers the affair while snooping around and sees it as a golden opportunity. She has something on her friend, which translates as power over her.
“Notes on a Scandal” is skillfully directed by Richard Eyre (“Iris” and “Stage Beauty”), who shows great restraint by never tipping you off on how Barbara will use the information. Except for a truly creepy scene in which she gets Sheba to stroke her arm, Eyre wisely doesn't make much of Barbara's latent lesbianism.
While Blanchett is faultless, conveying Sheba's sensuality with a simple gesture like sweeping her long blond hair over an ear, the movie belongs to Dench. With no star vanity, she allows herself to look like a woman aging far from gracefully. She makes Barbara's loneliness palpable without inviting pity. Her eyes are in constant motion, on the lookout for news to divulge to her diary. Happening upon a scandal really gets her juices going.
“Notes on a Scandal” won't be everyone's cup of tea. But if you like your films strong, this one is not to be missed. San Francisco Chronicle