Notes on a Scandal
A pottery teacher (Blanchett) enters into an affair with one of her students, causing upheaval in her personal and professional lives.
Directed by
Richard Eyre
Genres
Drama
Cast
Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Tom Georgeson, Michael Maloney, Joanna Scanlan, Shaun Parkes, Emma Kennedy, Syreeta Kumar, Andrew Simpson, Philip Davis, Wendy Nottingham, Tameka Empson, Leon Skinner, Bill Nighy, Juno Temple
Barbara Covett (Dame Judi Dench) is the typical old school teacher many of us can relate to. The old witch who we suspected of living alone with no family, who we detested for her rule with an iron fist. Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett) is the opposite, like the soft teacher everyone bullied because they knew they could, and you always got someone that fancied them, mostly because they were the best of a bad bunch ( no offence to Blanchett). Problems arrive when it’s more than just Barbara that shows an interest in Sheba. When one of her students Steven Connolly shows her attention she isn’t used to the problems escalate to illegal doings when Sheba reciprocates these affections and they embark on a affair. When Barbara finds out she blackmails Sheba with nothing other than friendship. However this means that she can keep Sheba under control. The acting in this film is nothing shirt of exceptional, however it is in a way overacted. Everything is emphasised with tensions being heightened in an effort to show just how insane Barabra really is. She’s monstrous, and one would think she would easily turn to murder if this same character was in a different film. Phillip Glass’s score plays over the film, narrating it like a finely tuned opera. Even the end screams horror, as Barbara moves onto a new victim, the monster defeated this time but still not subdued. I really hope there is no sequel; however I can imagine how tempting it may be.