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Notes on a Scandal February 13, 2007 |
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The scandal in question in director Richard Eyre and writer Patrick Marber’s adaptation of the 2003 Zoe Heller novel involves a married art teacher who is caught by her possessive older friend having an affair with a 15-year-old student, leading to a fascinating give-and-take relationship between the possessor of the secret, and the offender who wishes it all to go away, quietly and forever. What makes this sensational plotline so riveting is the actresses playing the parts; Cate Blanchett as the adulterous teacher Sheba Hart, and Judi Dench (both nominated for Oscars) as the grizzly old history teacher Barbara Covett, who takes a shine to the beautiful new art teacher and uses her knowledge of the illegal affair to her advantage. Dench is particularly memorable here, presenting her Barbara as a lonely spinster who only gets what she wants by using veiled intimidation (“we are bound by the secrets we share”), but Blanchett is her match, especially near the end when Barbara’s intentions are revealed in a diary (hence the “notes” of the title) and all emotions are laid bare. This is prime literary melodrama, the symbolism of the names Hart and Covett lost on only the slowest of participants, played to the highest order by some of the best actors in the business. by Adam Suraf |