Notes on a Scandal
Human beings are social animals. We seek out the company of others from the time of our births. There are few among us who can honestly say we are complete with only our own companionship. As such, loneliness is one of the most devastating conditions that can befall man or woman. Not just the occasional bouts of unwelcome solitude, but the soul sucking knowledge that one is unlikely to ever be truly connected to another person. That this condition could inspire desperate behavior is unquestionable. That such behavior could so divinely be put to film is remarkable, and on display for all to see in Notes on a Scandal.
Notes on a Scandal opens with Barbara (Dame Judi Dench) writing in her diary of the happenings at the school at which she has long taught. Barbara’s writings are presented to the audience in the form of Dench’s voice-over narration as we watch a new art teacher begin her tenure at this English school for troubled children. The new teacher is Sheba (Cate Blanchett), a lovely woman about whom Barbara writes in alternately scathing and admiring tones. As Sheba reaches out to Barbara, offering her a friendship that the desperately lonely Barbara only dreamed possible, we hear a different side of Barbara. Her writings become more obsessive, less stately and controlled. When she discovers Sheba in the midst of some inappropriate behavior, her extreme neediness combined with her very likely sexual repression turn Barbara from eccentric only in her diary into something else altogether.
Without question, the most incredible part of Notes on a Scandal is the character and performance of Dench as Barbara. This is a character so complex, so conflicted, so utterly human that we ache with every hurt and are stunned and shocked at every frightening turn of her emotional switch. She is the type of character that, without her own machinations, could very likely go for years without receiving the intentional – even casual – touch of another human being. She is so controlled, so rigid and unyielding, that no one is ever likely to actively seek to break through her gruff and formidable exterior. Those unlucky enough to try are subject to the excesses that desperation and extreme isolation create. Superbly written by Patrick Marber from the novel by Zoe Heller, this character is a force with which to be reckoned, as well as a withering soul searching for comfort.
Dench is picture perfect in this role. Her proper, regal bearing serve the character beautifully as she initially appears to be the utmost of proper, though stubborn and hard-nosed, ladies. It’s as she begins to show cracks in her armor that the performance truly becomes remarkable. It’s as if her mask has slipped and there’s a different woman beneath the calm, dignified exterior we’ve all come to expect from Dame Dench. It’s an absolutely astounding piece of acting, one for which she rightfully received an Academy Award nomination.
Blanchett is predictably solid as Sheba, her emotional range more restricted by her role, but her ability to convince no less on display. Sheba is not a character without fault, nor is she a mere victim. She plays an active role in her own troubles, compounding them by her utter lack of understanding of Barbara’s true emotional state. Blanchett makes it look frighteningly easy to swing from one role to the next. Though many of us may subconsciously imprint upon her the ethereal qualities she so ably exhibited in The Lord of the Rings, here she makes earthy, sensual and questionable in judgment look just as natural.
Director Richard Eyre makes yet another pitch perfect decision when choosing Philip Glass to provide the score for Notes on a Scandal. While I sometimes feel that Glass’ style can get a little omnipresent and is not a good match for many films, here it is utterly suited to the tone of the film. Glass hits just the right tone of drama with a touch of menace, especially effective when playing beneath Barbara’s readings from her diary. Like every good score, the music highlights the mood, hints at but never overwhelms the upcoming events and provides a worthy backdrop for the actors.
Notes on a Scandal is a beautifully realized character study of one of the most interesting, complicated and emotionally conflicted characters in recent memory. It isn’t flashy or filled with unnecessary shocks simply for the sake of satisfying an action-greedy audience, rather it thrives on providing its viewer with people so real you can feel their pain and desperation, understand even their most appalling actions and sympathize with them as an amalgam of the effects of isolation, loneliness, denial and self-indulgence. Both Dench and Blanchett draw the most from their parts, turning a wonderful script into a magnificent tour de force of acting. Five enthusiastic stars and an unqualified recommendation for Notes on a Scandal.
*Though I noted only Judi Dench’s Academy Award nomination in the body of the review, Notes on a Scandal was also the recipient of nominations for Cate Blanchett, Philip Glass and writer Patrick Marber.
