Notes on a Scandal (film)


Notes on a Scandal is a 2006 British psychological thriller-drama film directed by Richard Eyre and produced by Robert Fox and Scott Rudin. Adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Zoë Heller, the screenplay was written by Patrick Marber. The film stars Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett and centres on a lonely veteran teacher who uncovers a fellow teacher's illicit affair with an underage student.
It was nominated for four Academy Awards – Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score.

Plot

Barbara Covett is a history teacher at a comprehensive school in London. A spinster nearing retirement, she has contempt for her students and fellow teachers. Her only comfort is her diary. When a new art teacher, Sheba Hart, joins the staff, Barbara is immediately attracted to her. Sheba is married to the much older Richard, and is just re-entering the work force after devoting herself to her special needs son.
Barbara later witnesses Sheba in a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old student named Steven Connolly at the school. When Barbara confronts her, she recounts all the details of her involvement with the boy, but Sheba asks her not to tell the school administration until after Christmas, as she wants to be with her family. Barbara claims she has no intention of reporting her, providing Sheba ends the illicit relationship immediately, but Barbara secretly plans to use the affair as a means of manipulating Sheba.
Sheba tells Steven that the affair is over yet finds herself unable to stop seeing him. However, when she refuses to give in to Barbara's demands on her time, Barbara reveals the secret to a male teacher who has told her that he is attracted to Sheba. After the affair becomes public, the head teacher accuses Barbara of knowing about the affair and not notifying the authorities. He also learns that a former teacher at the school had taken out a restraining order against Barbara for stalking her and her fiancé. Both Sheba and Barbara are fired.
Sheba's husband asks her to move out of their home, so she moves into Barbara's house, unaware that Barbara is the reason she was found out and believing the affair became known because Steven confessed it to his mother. When Sheba discovers Barbara's diary and learns it was Barbara who leaked the story of the affair, she confronts Barbara and strikes her in anger. A row ensues, and Sheba runs outside to a crowd of reporters and photographers. When she becomes hemmed in by them, Barbara rescues her.
Sheba's emotions spent, she quietly tells Barbara that she had initiated the friendship with her because she liked her and that they could have been friends. She leaves Barbara, placing the journal on the table, and returns to her husband. Sheba is subsequently sentenced to 10 months in prison.
Later, Barbara meets another younger woman who is reading a newspaper about the Sheba Hart affair. Barbara says she was acquainted with Sheba but says they hardly knew each other. Barbara introduces herself, invites the other woman to a concert, and the pair continue to talk.

Cast

Filming took place in August and September 2005. The film was mainly shot on location in the Parliament Hill, Gospel Oak and Camden Town areas of northwest London. The Arts and Media School, Islington was used a film location for many of the school scenes.

Reception

Critical reaction

The film opened to generally positive reviews, with Blanchett and Dench receiving critical acclaim for their performances. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 87% based on 174 reviews. The Guardian called the film a "delectable adaptation" with "tremendous acting from Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, with many blue-chip supporting contributions and a "screenwriting masterclass from Patrick Marber". The Times praised the film, saying: "Notes on a Scandal, is screenwriting at its vicious best... Richard Eyre directs the film like a chamber play. He leans on Philip Glass's ever-present and insistent music like a crutch. But his natural gift for framing scenes is terrifically assured. A potent and evil pleasure."
American publications also gave the film acclaim, with the Los Angeles Times describing the film as "Sexy, aspirational and post-politically correct, Notes on a Scandal could turn out to be the Fatal Attraction of the noughties." The Washington Post noted the "dark brilliance" and that it "offers what is possibly the only intelligent account of such a disaster ever constructed, with a point of view that is somewhat gimlet-eyed and offered with absolutely no sentimentality whatsoever." The reviewer also identified the film as a "study in the anthropology of British liberal-left middle-class life." Chicago Sun-Times film critic Richard Roeper heaped praise on the film: "Perhaps the most impressive acting duo in any film of 2006. Dench and Blanchett are magnificent. Notes on a Scandal is whip-smart, sharp and grown up."
However, the Houston Chronicle criticized the film as a melodrama, saying, "ramatic overstatement saturates just about every piece of this production".

Commercial

The film grossed $49,752,391 worldwide, against a budget of $15 million.

Soundtrack

The original score for the movie was composed by Philip Glass. The film also features music by Toots and the Maytals and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Awards and nominations

79th Academy Awards:
BAFTA Awards
British Independent Film Awards
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards
Evening Standard British Film Awards
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards
Golden Globe Awards
London Film Critics Circle Awards
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards
Online Film Critics Awards
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards