Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Premise: Barbara (Judi Dench) has decided to take the new art teacher, Sheba (Cate Blanchett), under her wing. While their friendship develops, Sheba also develops a relationship with one of her 15 year-old pupils (Andrew Simpson). When Barbara discovers what Sheba has been up to, she decides to take advantage of the opportunity instead of reporting her.

Wouldn't it be great if you could see a movie with not one but two juicy roles for women? And two amazing actresses would play those roles, and they would constantly engage each other on the screen, never competing but making each other better?

Then see this movie because that's what you'll get. Yay! What a wonderful year 2006 was for the actress!

I must admit, I was excited when I saw Patrick Marber's name flash across the screen. Remembering the brilliant yet maddening Closer, I also recalled that it was Blanchett that was originally set to play Anna. I spent a few moments wishing I had seen Cate and Clive together, but I'll have to wait. Besides, Marber's devious and stunning screenplay demanded my full attention, much like his protagonists.

Dench has cornered the market on playing frosty upper-class women of a certain age, able to disdainfully shut down conversations and conversational partners with the slightest flick of her eye. Here, however, she was something else entirely. Her Barbara is a ghastly creation, delusional and pathetic. Her flinty eyes have never been put to greater use, carefully taking in and scornfully judging those around her, blind to the way she sows the seeds of her own downfall. At first I was concerned that she would never get her comeuppance, but then I saw it. Marber's justice is far more poetic than the courts.

And, ah, Blanchett. What a resplendent beauty she possesses. Sheba's tremulous in her first moments, confident in her seduction, and maniacally undone by her only friend's machinations. She's never better than when she's trying to justify her affair, desperately sputtering out clichés like "But he's mature for his age!" Blanchett keeps it all in check, though. She makes it clear that Sheba knows his "maturity" doesn't make the slightest bit of difference.

Special props to Simpson and Bill Nighy, as Sheba's older husband. Simpson acts like an ordinary teen, not an adult trapped in a child's body, and it's obvious that his character is well on his way to being a heart-breaker. Nighy's a rock star in my mind, and he's awesome as his character's annoyance gradually increases. He even included one of his classic snorts in his big scene.

Philip Glass, let's talk. You know I adore you, and I think your score adds emotional resonance to any scene, but you didn't think this was a little redundant? A little too The Hours? No, okay. Just thought I'd bring it up. Too bad you weren't nominated for the other one, though. That was something worth celebrating.

So, director Richard Eyre, my hat's off to you. None of this would have come together quite so well without you at the helm. You are an assured and perceptive director, and I think you have something of a masterpiece on your hands. A

In other news, Marty took home top honours from the DGA, which looks very good indeed.