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Notes On A Scandal
Directed by Richard Eyre

by Vera Brozzoni

Barbara Covett (Judi Dench) is a repressed, depressed, acid spinster who teaches History in a dysfunctional high school. Enter Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), the new Art teacher, and Barbara is immediately, morbidly fascinated by her grace.

So she weaves a net of reassuring pats on the shoulders in order to enter Sheba’s confidence and private life. When the young woman is caught red-handed by Barbara in a crazy and inappropriate act of lust with one of her students, the so-called “friendship” turns into sheer blackmail; in a crescendo of twisted passions, guilt and desperation, many lives are destroyed – not physically, though: society, with its ethical codes and its hypocritical institutions, is still there to be confronted.

A flamboyant psychological melodrama set in a grim London, this flawless example of British cinema is not for all tastes: despite its classical, dialogue-based structure, director Richard Eyre fills the action with tension and uncontrollable rage; many juices are flowing in a demonic saraband under the two women’s skin – red hot blood, but most of all green bile.

This makes the film particularly intense and enthralling, if not “new” in terms of cinematic language. But apart from perfect dialogues and scriptwriting, Notes On A Scandal also flaunts a frantic music score by Philip Glass, in which the nervous string section accurately mirrors the heart-throbs of all the characters.

Not to speak of the amazing acting masterclasses from Dench, Blanchett and Bill Nighy in the part of Sheba’s unaware husband: Blanchett’s crystalline beauty justifies her inconsiderate self-indulgence and makes her believable and sympathetic; unfortunately (since real life is filled with wolves in a lamb’s skin), Dench’s character is also utterly believable and sends chills down one’s spine.

The lesson the film teaches is hard and pessimistic but useful: watch out for the repressed and the envious, and most of all watch out for those who love you too much, because they will lovingly suck you dry.

It’s half-consoling that, in the end, beauty is not defeated: there’s a glimpse of hope in Sheba’s eyes as her husband Richard finally lets her into their abode. Yet we still crave for some punishment to fall from the sky on Barbara’s brazen face: naive Sheba has put herself in the welcoming hands of a “vampire”, as she righteously calls the elder woman at the end of the film, but this vampire is still out hunting for preys, and nothing will ever stop her; in a dry and ominous final scene, Eyre’s mistrust in human behaviour comes once again to the surface and sticks in our minds.

Wonderfully cruel.

More Films:
Blood Diamond
Notes on a Scandal
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The Black Dahlia