sandnair87 In Notes on a Scandal, Judi Dench plays Barbara Covett, a spinster history teacher at a British public school, who narrates the story with tart, dolorous wit. A self-described "battle-axe", she is so ensconced by her own loneliness, so embittered by her inability to achieve intimacy with another human, that she has turned inwardly toxic. It doesn't help matters that she's a deeply closeted lesbian.Barbara's newest obsession is the school's new art teacher Sheba Hart (Blanchett), whose wealth and magnificence are a draught of nectar to her own drab existence. Sheba excites Barbara's silent fascination and derision by wafting sexily about the place with her liberal-patrician attitude, her hippy-dippy idealism, and her remarkable beauty. Barbara, who keeps a copious diary of her thoughts and feelings, becomes increasingly delusional about Sheba, concocting a fantasy life for the two of them, imagining her to finally be "the one". Never mind that Sheba is married with two kids - as far as Barbara is concerned, she'd be better off with Barbara. When she discovers Sheba's sensational love affair with one of her students, it's an opportunity Barbara seizes with relish, as we see her moral outrage turn to narcissistic manipulation as she tries to conceal their secret. Notes on a Scandal is about something deeply unlovely in human nature rarely explored by artists: the explosive combination of desire and social envy. The brilliance of the film's concept is matched by a powerful screenplay that proves to be a screen writing master-class from Patrick Marber who makes the subtleties obvious and sets up the story's twists and turns with unmistakable confidence. Director Richard Eyre, with unshowy authority, instills a mildly suspenseful quality to the movie, while imbuing it with enough restraint, pacing the proceedings with an eye for detail. The restraint successfully allows for several moments in which the characters erupt to be that much more jolting.The movie's driving force however is Dame Judi Dench, who is an absolute powerhouse as the repressed, predatory lesbian. We know fully well that Barbara is a kind of monster, but from the moment she cynically sizes up the year's new crop of students - "Here come the local pubescent proles - the future plumbers and shop assistants, and perhaps there's the odd terrorist, too" - she has us. And in Dench's hands, Barbara never lets us go; the acerbic wit never fails. But her biting remarks are always tempered by the sense of her bitter sadness, which in turn is tempered by her moments of uncanny perception. It's a brilliant role and a brilliant performance - witty, hateful and heartbreaking all at once. But it doesn't exist in a vacuum; Cate Blanchett, is every bit Dench's equal, showing great range in moments that demand release of vulnerability and pent-up passion, delivering a harrowing performance as the unwitting target in a tragically fraught relationship. Together, they are an absolute delight! Bill Nighy as Sheba's cuckolded husband displays great range in a relatively small part.Notes on a Scandal is a quintessential tale of twisted love, of festering secrets and emotional self-harm. Something so horrible and abject shouldn't be so compulsively watchable, and yet it is. Engrossing, bewildering, searing and shattering, this is a film that reverberates on every level.

SnoopyStyle The bitter Barbara Covett (Judi Dench) is a loner old teacher resentful of everyone and everything. She writes bitingly in her journal. She is fascinated with the new art teacher Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett). After she helps Sheba stop a fight, they become friends and Sheba invites her to a family lunch. She is surprised to find Sheba's husband Richard (Bill Nighy) is as old as she is. Sheba has been home taking care of her son Ben with Down's Syndrome for the last 10 years, and also has a teen Polly (Juno Temple). Sheba starts confiding in Barbara. Then she accidentally discovers that Sheba is having an affair with her student Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson). At first, she helps to keep Sheba's confidence. She pushes Sheba to end her affair. Her beloved cat gets deadly sick. When Sheba decides to go to his son Ben's play instead of going to the vet with her for her cat's death, she decides to let out her bitterness.There are two great thespians at work. Judi Dench is brilliant and Cate Blanchett is just as brilliant playing the weaker character. Diabolical Dench is like a spider catching the unsuspecting Blanchett in her web. Her narration is delicious. It is a sickening ride that isn't for everyone.

evening1 I'm a little surprised that two actresses of the stature of Judy Dench and Cate Blanchett accepted these roles.Blanchett's Sheba is not well-drawn; why she gets sexually involved with a manipulative 15-year-old punk -- other than because she's enervated by her (quite attractive) Down Syndrome son -- isn't made clear. She's snagged the creative job she'd wanted to get her out of the house, and a husband who cares. Guess he doesn't compliment her enough -- awwwww! In contrast, the cameraman is smitten with Sheba, providing wispy perspectives on her bottle-blonde hair and willowy frame. (OK, we get that she's a looker!)Dench was courageous (or misguided) in taking the role of an exceptionally unlikeable lesbian as book-smart as she is socially maladaptive; she's made to look ugly in both her behavior and countless closeups. There is little in this film to make us care about someone who weeps, perhaps for the first time in her life, for a deceased cat.The plot here seems derivative of America's Mary Kay Letourneau saga -- Sheba, too, gets involved with an artistic kid who's mature beyond his years. And by the end, Dench's character is channeling Catherine Deneuve in "The Hunger" -- a phoenix-like older woman pursuing youthful prey.The sum of this film is less than its parts but it managed to keep my interest until the end.

punishmentpark 'Notes on a scandal' begins exhilarating. The setting of a state school where it seems to be teachers vs. students is well portrayed, especially with the eloquent voice-over of history teacher Barbara Covett (what's in a name - played wonderfully by Judi Dench) aptly describing the status quo. Since I've personally always wondered about these potentially mysterious entities in the past (school, teachers, staffroom), this really speaks to me. Enter new art teacher Sheba Hart (again, what's in a name - also wonderfully played, by Cate Blanchett) and young master Connolly taking his shirt off for her during a game of soccer in the schoolyard - let the 'games' begin...The film combines human drama with a tense thriller vibe and its tempo is relentless. It reminded me of the work of Alfred Hitchcock, but not as good and stylish (though Hitchcock did not álways deliver, either, but that is really beside the point). The latter part and the confrontation in the end between Barb and Sheba are somewhat obvious (and thus disappointing), and as I just learned that the book had (among some other aspects) a much more appropriate ending, this really stings. I also saw 'The other man' by the same director, but that one truly bored me - with again a mix of genres, but it just didn't come together for me at all.Here, there is still plenty to be enjoyed altogether; 7 out of 10.