Review: Notes On A Scandal

Bit of an odd choice for a review from me now but one I feel is worth doing.

Review: Notes On A Scandal (Richard Eyre, 2006, UK/USA).

Barbara (Judi Dench) likes to keep an ongoing diary detailing the events surrounding her life and her work as vice-headmistress at a London secondary school. She warms to Sheeba (Cate Blanchett), a new teacher at the school, as she is attractive, confident and seemingly in a happy marraige. Things change however when Barabra discovers a secret about Sheeba's life and uses it to have Sheeba guaranteed as a friend for life. However, Barbara also has her own secrets...
The idea of a teacher sleeping with a pupil is a gripping one and one used many times (And lampooned brilliantly in a recent episode of South Park). The skill of Notes On A Scandal is in the fact that as emotive a subject as this is, it plays second fiddle to the main relationship in the movie, the one between Sheeba and Barbara. Indeed the relationship between Sheeba and Stephen (Andrew Simpson) is so underplayed that it is resolved far earlier than I expected it to be. As it is, this side of the film is very intelligently made. The motivations seem real, the chemistry between Blanchett and Simpson is made uncomfortably real and the only bad thing I can say about its presentation is that sometimes it seems a little too played for laughs and is a little tasteless. Believe me, I have nothing wrong with tastlessness in the slightest but in the context of the rest of the film, it seems very out of place. For an exmple of this, watch the audience's reaction after Judi Dench answers Cate Blanchett's phone.
What this film revolves around, and what makes it such a gripping and intelligent piece of cinema is the character of Barbara. While the screenplay, adapted by Patrick Marber, gives Dench the material to work with, she makes it seem like she has lived and breathed as this character for decades. Her portrayal as Barbara is so convincing that it makes one think about the number of sociopathic old woman we have in our society and how they are not helped, but are shoved aside. What starts as a cynical but warm-hearted perfomance soon becomes something much darker and yet you pity Barbara by the end, which given the events of the plot seems like quite a hard reach. One complaont I would make about her character, and it is a minor quibble, the last scene in another film could be seen as something hinting towards a sequel. Her character does not seem to have been resolved by the end of the film. Even though I complain about this, I do acknowledge that the filmmakers may be saying that thing do not get wrapped up as easily in real life, and indeed considering threlaism of all that has been portrayed before this scene, it would seem that this would be the case. Maybe my want for a resolution is something that really needs to be looked at!
Cate Blanchett does well in what is most certainly a supporting role. Although she provides the main thrust for the story, this is certainly not her film, and her perfomance seems to acknoweldge this. However, her character is a complex one. While the machinations of the film would make you ususally sympathise with her, she never quite earns it. While she does not deserve what Judi Dench puts her through, she certainly does not help herself. The scene in which she explains to Dench what led to the scandal certainly paints a bad picture of her in the audience's minds, and I could not shake this off for the rest of the runtime (And the people I saw this with also agreed). I do not believe that this is a case of Blanchett not pulling off the character, this is intentionally done through the script. It is to Blanchett's credit that she is willing to let herself be painted as quite an unlikeable character. The chemistry between the two leads is soemthing to behold. Both have secrets, both are disahgreeable in a number of ways but both also give theiur cgarcters shades of light and make you feel for them. In the end, you cannot reall side with either of the chgaracter's and it is too Eyre and Marber's credit tgat they do not make us favour one more than the other. Dench is unhinged but she is also obviously suffering froma form of mental illness. Blanchett does not deseve what is happening to her but not once does she try to help Dench. When she finds out what she does, she solely thinks about herself. She uses her family as an excuse to try and get Dench to stop but is only thinking of herself. And yet, woyuldn't we all in the same situation?
The supporting perofmances are uniformly solid if not outstanding. Bill Nighy does nicely in a small role and is the only person out of the main cast who you can really feel sorry for (And yet, we are told that he left his wife for Blanchett so, is he just getting a piece of karma back?). Andrew Simpson does well as the young boy Sheeba has a realtionship with. He is on the cusp of adulthood and yet to eyes outside of the relationship, he is obviously still just a boy. Along Marber's previous adaptation Closer, this never feels like it would be better done on the stage. This feels like an intelligent movie and Marber is to be thanked. Richard Eyre doe s a solid if not spectacular job but I would say that the shifts in tone at times are jarring, as said earlier. The score also desveres mention. Phillip Glass creates an unnevring mood but the music never feels out of place.
This is another great job for British films. Although it is a co-production with Fox Searchlight, it feels every bit the Bristish film and this along with "The greatest motion picture ever" Hot Fuzz and The Last King Of Scotland are a great hat-trick to kick off the year.

Back tomorrow with a review of "Perfume: Story Of A Murderer".