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Barbara Covett (Judi Dench) was a
lonely, frumpy-looking, middle-aged
history teacher at St. Georges, a
working class London public high school.
She kept to herself and her old habits,
making no effort get along with
colleagues or inspire a single student
until the day Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett)
arrived.
Sheba was the new art teacher at St.
Georges. She’s young, bright and
enthusiastic. As far as Barbara was
concerned, Sheba was a breath of fresh
air at this stuffy school for slackers.
But, more importantly, Barbara found in
Sheba someone interesting and
intelligent enough to talk to and
confide in.
Dench’s character narrates the film from
a journal she keeps. It’s a radical
departure from her more familiar role as
“M” in the James Bond series.
Barbara and Sheba become quick friends,
sharing ideas and personal history over
lunch and coffee breaks week after week.
The content of their conversations,
along with Barbara’s opinions of Sheba’s
family members, are duly recorded in
Barbara’s journal. She writes that
Sheba’s husband (Bill Nighy) is
“unworthy” and her daughter “spoiled.”
Barbara lives alone with her ailing cat.
When she is invited for dinner at the
Hart home, she shares her excitement in
private with the audience. We’re happy
for her and feel sorry for her at the
same time. What follows is the dark side
of Barbara previously concealed. It
hovers above her facial expressions and
body language after she arrives at
dinner. There’s a subtle tension and
jealousy that underlies her evolving
friendship with Sheba with every line
she adds to her journal. She is both
repulsed and attracted to the bohemian
lifestyle that Sheba embraces.
This newly formed friendship is suddenly
shattered when Barbara accidentally
discovers Sheba with a young male
student (Anderson Simpson) in a
compromising position. Instead of
reporting the shocking and illegal
relationship to the authorities, Barbara
decides it’s an opportunity to control
her younger friend. Barbara gives Sheba
an ultimatum: End the affair or face the
consequences. Sheba agrees to behave but
is too weak to break the relationship
with the good- looking young man, whom
she continues to woo every day.
Barbara reassures Sheba that the
indiscretion will be their little secret
and coyly revels in their tight new
bond. However, when Barbara finds Sheba
in the arms of the young student again,
the bond is almost broken, accompanied
by another warning and another false
promise.
Tension builds quickly, culminating in a
pivotal scene where Barbara is
grief-stricken over the death of her
cat, and demands that Sheba skip her
child’s school performance and mourn the
loss with her.
Few actresses are talented enough to
convince an audience that the death of a
cat is tragic enough to sacrifice
attending an important event in your
child’s life. Dench is one of them. She
can be one scary lady. If I was Sheba I
would have skipped the play and paid my
respects.
Based on Zoe Heller’s novel What
Was She Thinking,
the film focuses less on the actual
scandal itself and more on the complex
relationship between the two teachers
and between Sheba and her husband.
Fortunately, Blanchett does not portray
Sheba as a ditsy young teacher with an
uncontrollable libido. Instead the
extremely talented Blanchett presents a
vulnerable, emotionally fragile woman
dealing daily with a loud, demanding
husband, a rebellious daughter and a son
with Down syndrome. We know her
character is an irrational, foolish
woman. Yet, we find Dench’s caustic and
sinister character more disturbing than
Blanchett’s, thanks to both of their
superb performances.
If you’re thinking this is a story about
a scary lesbian you’d be wrong. It’s
much more than that. Notes On
A Scandal is a
well-crafted exploration of unequal
female relationships and loneliness.
It’s about the emptiness of not having a
close friend to confide in and the
desire to be young again. In film-critic
speak it’s a cross between Fatal
Attraction and Lolita. The
good news is no rabbits are boiled alive
and no one gets killed.
General Audiences: A
Academy Award level performances by Judi
Dench and Cate Blanchett are reasons
enough to see this film. London Public
school teacher finds kindred spirit in
new staff member until an illicit affair
triggers a series of unfortunate
events.
Family Audiences: Rated R for language
and some aberrant sexual content. Not a
family film. |
