Richard Eyre, former director of the Royal National Theatre in England, translated the elements of a dramatic play into the film “Notes on a Scandal.” Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett weren’t cast solely for celebrity; they were cast for exceptional acting skill.
The film succeeds by relying wholeheartedly on the script and acting. Themes of female anguish and lack of life fulfillment perpetuate the plot, as Barbara Covett (Dench) and Sheba Hart (Blanchett) are bonded by obsessions that give them meaning: Sheba indulges in sexual temptation offered by one of her students while Barbara uses the secret to blackmail Sheba, with whom she’s utterly infatuated.
Barbara – bitter, frustrated, pale and balding – narrates the film through her diary, in which she confesses all her plots to manipulate Sheba into becoming her life partner. At first, Barbara’s witty, cynical remarks make her cheeky and almost likable. But her monstrous obsession grows more repulsive in each scene (at one point she creepily strokes Sheba’s arms without consent from the younger woman). After witnessing Sheba having intimate relations with a student, Barbara turns heartbreak into a sick game. She says, “I could gain everything by doing nothing.” She succeeds in ruining Sheba’s life with her constant, nerve-wracking presence around Sheba’s family, quietly stewing the knowledge of the scandal to her advantage. Dench plays the character remarkably, making Barbara simultaneously deserving of hatred and pity.
Though Dench’s performance warrants incredible recognition for the complex, yet spot-on, performance as Barbara, Blanchett’s acting deserves equal praise for her subtly complicated character. Sheba, while beautiful and charismatic, displays anxious traits as she attempts to find a life beyond her family. Scenes of Sheba having relations with her student are extremely uncomfortable, but the humanity of Sheba’s guilt and naivety evoke a sense of sympathy for an otherwise unforgivable act. Any doubt of Blanchett’s acting will wash away at the film’s climax, when she serves up an unforgettable and chilling monologue.
Instead of wowing you with fantastic images, this film will wow you with the power of human emotion. Instead of horrifying you with gory images, this movie will horrify you with the power of loneliness. The tense, well-acted drama will hit nerves, turn stomachs and leave viewers talking. While perfecting the theater basics, writing and acting, “Notes on a Scandal” proves a refreshing (yet uncomfortable) British work among the sensory overload of today’s Hollywood movies in America.
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