SPOILER ALERT! Dear Diary, Last Saturday I went to see "Notes on a Scandal" with my best friend. We had been meaning to see it for a long time and finally got around to it. It started out a tad slow as it introduces Barbara (Dench) and Sheba (Cate) to the audience. Barbara's been a teacher since the dawn of man and does not have to exert a lot in order to do her job well. When Sheba arrives in the school as a new art teacher, Barbara is very quick to judge her as it soon becomes apparent that she is embittered toward the entire world and every one of its inhabitants. This is a defense mechanism as much as anything and it also becomes apparent that Barbara is uncompromisingly needy, desperate for human contact but unfortunately does not have a lot to offer another person. She's stuck. She's old. She's alone except for her cat, Portia.
One day Barbara has to intervene when Sheba is unsuccessfully dealing with a brawl between two students, and it serves as their formal introduction. They begin to socialize and a friendship develops. When Sheba invites Barbara to her home for Sunday lunch (is it 'tea' in England?), Barbara gets her hair done and overdresses, so much so that Sheba's teen aged daughter is forced to inquire about her outfit. The invite means too much, in Barbara's world.
During a school play, Barbara goes in search of Sheba (she'd been saving a seat for her), and finds her performing a sexual act on one of the students involved in the brawl, Steven. She confronts her in an abrupt manner and soon realizes 'all she has to do is nothing' because now Barbara has leverage in their relationship. Sheba can't leave her. They're sharing something, hiding something and they're going to do it together. Sheba agrees to stop seeing the boy, when Barbara demands it. You don't know if Barbara demands it because she thinks its a bad idea, or maybe she just doesn't want to have to share her with anyone else. Its bad enough Sheba has a husband and too children.
It kind of all goes downhill from there. Portia has to be put down and Barbara needs comfort and it comes at the worst possible time, as Sheba is on her way to see her son perform in a school play (are school plays required as a monthly exercise in England?) and cannot give Barbara the emotional support she needs. It makes for an extremely uncomfortable scene, for the characters and the audience, too.
Steven eventually breaks off his relationship with Sheba because it stopped being fun for him. Imagine a fifteen year old giving you the brush off! Sheba is found out, thanks to Barbara, and that's when the pooh really hits the fan.
I liked the movie a lot. It made me think about a lot of things. Dench is just brilliant and the movie is a showcase for her considerable talents. Barbara is a real human being, and Dench is unafraid to show you 'warts and all' where her character is concerned. Barbara is one of the most complex characters I've seen in a long time and I thought about her a lot when the movie was over.
I did not enjoy Cate at all, and that was too bad since normally I think she is fantastic also. It just felt as though she made some unsound choices as an actor.
On the down side, Philip Glass needs to rethink the entire score. Its overwhelming and did not deserve a nomination.
Also I did not buy into certain things..its enough that Sheba developed a sex thing with a minor, but am I supposed to believe she's willing to carry it out next to the railroad tracks? No can do. Also it was unrealistic that Sheba discovers Barbara's journals by a page found in in wastepaper basket. If you've ever kept a journal, you don't rip pages out of it. And you CERTAINLY don't rip pages out of it when the person you're consumed with writing about is living with you at the time! There should have been a better way to deal with this. Plus, some of the lines are laughable.
For the most part, its great, though. 8/10.
One day Barbara has to intervene when Sheba is unsuccessfully dealing with a brawl between two students, and it serves as their formal introduction. They begin to socialize and a friendship develops. When Sheba invites Barbara to her home for Sunday lunch (is it 'tea' in England?), Barbara gets her hair done and overdresses, so much so that Sheba's teen aged daughter is forced to inquire about her outfit. The invite means too much, in Barbara's world.
During a school play, Barbara goes in search of Sheba (she'd been saving a seat for her), and finds her performing a sexual act on one of the students involved in the brawl, Steven. She confronts her in an abrupt manner and soon realizes 'all she has to do is nothing' because now Barbara has leverage in their relationship. Sheba can't leave her. They're sharing something, hiding something and they're going to do it together. Sheba agrees to stop seeing the boy, when Barbara demands it. You don't know if Barbara demands it because she thinks its a bad idea, or maybe she just doesn't want to have to share her with anyone else. Its bad enough Sheba has a husband and too children.
It kind of all goes downhill from there. Portia has to be put down and Barbara needs comfort and it comes at the worst possible time, as Sheba is on her way to see her son perform in a school play (are school plays required as a monthly exercise in England?) and cannot give Barbara the emotional support she needs. It makes for an extremely uncomfortable scene, for the characters and the audience, too.
Steven eventually breaks off his relationship with Sheba because it stopped being fun for him. Imagine a fifteen year old giving you the brush off! Sheba is found out, thanks to Barbara, and that's when the pooh really hits the fan.
I liked the movie a lot. It made me think about a lot of things. Dench is just brilliant and the movie is a showcase for her considerable talents. Barbara is a real human being, and Dench is unafraid to show you 'warts and all' where her character is concerned. Barbara is one of the most complex characters I've seen in a long time and I thought about her a lot when the movie was over.
I did not enjoy Cate at all, and that was too bad since normally I think she is fantastic also. It just felt as though she made some unsound choices as an actor.
On the down side, Philip Glass needs to rethink the entire score. Its overwhelming and did not deserve a nomination.
Also I did not buy into certain things..its enough that Sheba developed a sex thing with a minor, but am I supposed to believe she's willing to carry it out next to the railroad tracks? No can do. Also it was unrealistic that Sheba discovers Barbara's journals by a page found in in wastepaper basket. If you've ever kept a journal, you don't rip pages out of it. And you CERTAINLY don't rip pages out of it when the person you're consumed with writing about is living with you at the time! There should have been a better way to deal with this. Plus, some of the lines are laughable.
For the most part, its great, though. 8/10.