Released: December 25th,
2006
Rated: R
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Pictures
Starring: Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Bill Nighy
Directed by: Richard Eyre
Written by: Patrick Marber
Personal Bias Alert: haven’t read the book, loves Philip Glass scores
8.5 of 10
Behind
the opening credits rolls a shot of notebooks, colorfully clustered and dated into
little groups that tantalizingly hint at a hidden meaning. The owner of these diaries is an older,
single woman named Barbara (Judi Dench), who we see writing detailed, overblown
entries in her current edition. Her life
is very simple: teach, feed her cat, and
wallow in the bitterness she feels towards a world that wants nothing to do
with her. Or so it would seem. As we dive deeper into the woman’s mind, the organization
of her diaries becomes clear, and we get a glimpse at her notes on one very
particular scandal.
This
era in Barbara’s life is dominated by the presence of a new friend and colleague,
Sheba (Cate Blanchett). Sheba is the
polar opposite of Barbara, a magnetic young butterfly lilting through the
school’s insular world. Everyone wants
to be her friend, but Barbara manages to catch her eye, and soon the pair are
sharing coffee and secrets. Barbara
proves much more invested in the relationship, and her conniving soon forces
their lives to intertwine in a way that can only blow apart.
The
film is an unapologetically melodramatic stew of blistering observations and
grand plotting, propelled with gusto by a prominent score from Philip
Glass. There’s a pulpy level that it can
be enjoyed at, bounding along to the inevitable blowout that gloriously begins
with a disheveled and brimming Blanchett sliding into frame. But living alongside this, if you choose to
acknowledge it, is an unwieldy world of bad guys and worse guys, one that never
gives you a safe character to lean on but never lets you turn your back on any
of them, either. For all their faults, Barbara,
Sheba, and their accompanying side players are given the dignity of some soft
edges, some quiet moments that are utterly humane in their simplicity. Their motivations are easily understood, even
when it leads them to insanity. It’s the
kind of careful character building that elevates schlock into art and adds a
layer of tragedy that lesser melodramatic fare lacks entirely.
While
we’re on the subject of elevation, let’s discuss the elephant in the room: Dench and Blanchett. One’s a legend and the other’s on her way,
and the thought of the two being unleashed with each other, even back in 2006, was
enough to salivate over. And they are
glorious together, grappling with their character’s big and small moments in a pair
of pitch-perfect turns. Their third
wheel, Sheba’s husband played by Bill Nighy, proves to be right on par with the
two leads, and the glorious riches that surround these main players are too
numerous to list (Juno Temple as their daughter and Anne-Marie Duff in a bit
part are just two). Even if operatic
melodrama simply isn’t to your taste, the power and skill of nearly every
performance in Notes on a Scandal will
be a satisfying reward for the time you invest.
It
would’ve been easy to get lost in the grandeur of this film, but director
Richard Eyre and screenwriter Patrick Marber carefully infused the film’s world
with such depth that there’s always something new to sink your teeth into. Pay attention to the things littering Barbara
and Sheba’s homes; an entire story can be found in the distinction between
their worlds. Eyre brings themes to life
through the careful framing of Dench’s ever-present eyes, and Marber creates
(or brilliantly lifts from the book) delightfully wicked turns of phrases that
will stick in your mind for years to come.
Their balance of such fine details with the story’s larger elements is an
impressive trick and one that is rarely pulled off so seamlessly.
Perhaps
these seemingly incongruous elements are to blame for this film’s current near-obscurity. It was lauded by critics at the time of its
release, but you now rarely hear it brought up, even when discussing Dench and
Blanchett’s legacies. Audiences didn’t
shell out much money to see it upon its theatrical release, and there’s been no
groundswell of support in the preceding years.
Whatever the reason for the film’s fading, it would be shameful to allow
such cracking wit, such sympathetically flawed characters, and such electric
performances to be forgotten.
Other Notes:
Ø Dench’s
delivery of the term ‘bourgeois bohemia’ has stuck in my mind for nearly ten
years.
Ø Note
that the last names of the two main characters hint at their fatal flaws.
Ø “It’s
the distance between life as you dream it and life as it is.”
