Scan and Pan
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Notes on a Scandal
Barbara is a lonely spinster who teaches at a north London school and keeps a detailed diary of her life. When the attractive thirtysomething Sheba joins the staff as an art teacher, Barbara becomes obsessed with her. She learns that Sheba is in a marriage to a much older man, and has a teenaged daughter and a son with Down's Syndrome. Sheba is also having an affair with a 15-year-old student. When Barbara discovers the affair, she uses this knowledge to manipulate Sheba into a closer relationship with her.
Director Richard Eyre (The Ploughman's Lunch) brings together a keen eye for detail and a knack for directing actors to make a persuasive and even suspenseful character drama. The screenplay by Patrick Marber (Closer), based on Zoe Heller's 2003 novel, is subtle and intelligent. I haven't read the novel, but based on an online summary the script appears to be reasonably faithful except for a more compressed timeline. Chris Menges (The Killing Fields, Michael Collins) is a master of naturalistic cinematography, and his work here is consistently good. Philip Glass contributes a moody score that nicely underscores the dramatic moments of the film.
Judi Dench is perfect in an outstanding performance as Barbara. Her character palpably aches with longing for a relationship, but her obsessiveness leads her into darker psychological terrain. Cate Blanchett provides an equally strong performance as Sheba, a bohemian art student turned respectable middle class wife and mother, whose repression breaks loose into a forbidden affair. Young Derry born actor Andrew Simpson is really quite good as Steven Connolly, the manipulative yet perceptive teenaged lover of Sheba, and convinces us that his character could believably seduce an older woman with his youthful charm and Irish brogue. Rounding out the good cast are Bill Nighy as Sheba's husband, Juno Temple as Sheba's daughter, Stephen Kennedy and Derbhle Crotty as Connolly's parents, and Philip Davis as a teacher with a crush on Sheba.
Notes on a Scandal has been nominated for four Oscars -- Dench as Best Actress, Blanchett as Best Supporting Actress, Marber for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Glass for Best Score -- and I recommend it just as highly.
This is a superb drama with excellent performances, and has deservedly garnered multiple Oscar, Golden Globe, and British BAFTA award nominations.
Barbara is a lonely spinster who teaches at a north London school and keeps a detailed diary of her life. When the attractive thirtysomething Sheba joins the staff as an art teacher, Barbara becomes obsessed with her. She learns that Sheba is in a marriage to a much older man, and has a teenaged daughter and a son with Down's Syndrome. Sheba is also having an affair with a 15-year-old student. When Barbara discovers the affair, she uses this knowledge to manipulate Sheba into a closer relationship with her.
Director Richard Eyre (The Ploughman's Lunch) brings together a keen eye for detail and a knack for directing actors to make a persuasive and even suspenseful character drama. The screenplay by Patrick Marber (Closer), based on Zoe Heller's 2003 novel, is subtle and intelligent. I haven't read the novel, but based on an online summary the script appears to be reasonably faithful except for a more compressed timeline. Chris Menges (The Killing Fields, Michael Collins) is a master of naturalistic cinematography, and his work here is consistently good. Philip Glass contributes a moody score that nicely underscores the dramatic moments of the film.
Judi Dench is perfect in an outstanding performance as Barbara. Her character palpably aches with longing for a relationship, but her obsessiveness leads her into darker psychological terrain. Cate Blanchett provides an equally strong performance as Sheba, a bohemian art student turned respectable middle class wife and mother, whose repression breaks loose into a forbidden affair. Young Derry born actor Andrew Simpson is really quite good as Steven Connolly, the manipulative yet perceptive teenaged lover of Sheba, and convinces us that his character could believably seduce an older woman with his youthful charm and Irish brogue. Rounding out the good cast are Bill Nighy as Sheba's husband, Juno Temple as Sheba's daughter, Stephen Kennedy and Derbhle Crotty as Connolly's parents, and Philip Davis as a teacher with a crush on Sheba.
Notes on a Scandal has been nominated for four Oscars -- Dench as Best Actress, Blanchett as Best Supporting Actress, Marber for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Glass for Best Score -- and I recommend it just as highly.
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