Notes on a Scandal
From AwardAnnals
| Film: | Notes on a Scandal |
|---|---|
| Director: | Richard Eyre |
| Honors: | |
| Genres: | |
| Distributor: | 20th Century Fox |
| Find it: |
|---|
Reviews
Amazon.com
Gold stars to all for this taut psychological thriller based on Zoe Heller’s novel that that gets more insidiously twisted as it unfolds. Oscar-nominated for her chilling performance, Dame Judi Dench gives a master class as schoolteacher Barbara Covett, a frumpy, friendless, and flinty spinster who lives with her cat. A formidable presence, Barbara is standoffish with colleagues and not one for students to trifle with (not that they’d dare). Cate Blanchett, also an Oscar nominee and winner of several critics society awards for her impassioned performance, costars as Sheba Hart, the new, overwhelmed art teacher who first becomes enthrall to Barbara after she steps in to help Sheba discipline unruly students. Barbara cultivates a friendship, and insinuates herself into Sheba’s chaotic life, which includes her older husband (Bill Nighy), teenage daughter, and a son with Down’s syndrome. Then, Barbara catches the reckless Sheba in a compromising position with a 15-year-old student (Andrew Simpson). Seizing her opportunity, the calculating Barbara does not turn her in. Rather, she wants to “help” her. “She’s the one I’ve been waiting for,” she writes in the journals she meticulously keeps, and which provide, in voiceover, her corrosive commentary. This all sounds very Fatal Attraction, but no boiling rabbits, please; we’re British. Philip Glass’s Oscar-nominated score accentuates the growing menace. Though there is little in these characters to admire, (one would think GLAAD would have something to say about the predatory turn Barbara’s character takes), Notes on a Scandal is a compelling tour-de-force for its Grade-A cast. —Donald Liebenson
Related works
What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal: A Novel
Schoolteacher Barbara Covett has known none but the most solitary of lifestyles until Sheba Hart joins St. George’s. Starting by sharing lunches, then family events, the new art teacher draws Barbara into a touching confidence. Unbeknownst to their colleagues, however, another relationship blossoms meanwhile: Sheba has begun a passionate affair with an underage male student. When the details come to light and Sheba falls prey to the inevitable media circus, Barbara decides to write an account in her friend’s defense—revealing not only Sheba’s secrets but her own.
Notes on a Scandal: Original Motion Picture Sountrack
Philip Glass is inarguably one of the most distinctive and influential composers of the modern era. In addition to his ground-breaking concert hall works and operas, his film scores, such as The Hours, Kundun, and The Thin Blue Line, have won acclaim and popularity through their combination of Western classical music, synthesized sounds, and non-Western influences. His emotive score for Notes on a Scandal is an integral part of the dramatic arc of the film.
Notes on a Scandal is a story of loneliness, loyalty, envy and love. Directed by Richard Eyre, the film follows a free-spirited and charismatic art teacher Sheba Hart (played by Cate Blanchett), who is brought down by scandal when she is arrested for engaging in sexual relations with a 15-year-old student. Academy Award winner Judi Dench plays a fellow teacher, Barbara Covett who befriends the younger woman and observes her fall from grace. “The score essentially is about Barbara,” Glass states. “It begins with Barbara and it ends with Barbara.”
