Friday, June 22, 2007

Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Synopsis: There is nothing like a good scandal to start off the weekend movie review fest. And what a scandal it is! Cate Blanchett plays Sheba Hart who's the new arts teacher at St. Georges's High School. She's lost and lonely so she confides in an old spinster teacher lady, Barbara Covett (Judi Dench). Things are all peachy until Sheba sleeps with a 15 year-old student. Wow, what a mistake because she gets caught by none other than her friend and confidant, Barbara. But you see, Barbara is a lonely lonely woman and instead of telling the authorities about a crime, she decides to use it as handcuffs to force Sheba to be her friend. Oh the drama!

Should You Watch It? Dramas are pretty notorious for being slow and dragging in the dialogue. But this movie went by pretty fast! I guess it was because it was so entertaining. The movie isn't really about the scandal but more about Barbara's parasitical personality. Such an interesting character study when compared to Sheba who's running away from her dying marriage. This dynamic is able to push the movie into a new level thus making the scandal complimentry to a multi-dimensional film as opposed to making it the crux.

Things to Watch Out For: Like I mentioned above, this movie isn't really about the scandal but about how everybody wants to be with somebody. The fear of loniness make us do a lot of crazy things. Also, the relationship between Sheba and her husband, Richard (Bill Nighy) is important as well because it works as a motive for Sheba to start the affair and to confide in Barbara.

Things You Don't Expect: Judi Dench is wow in this film. There is no other way to explain her performance. I mean, everyone else in the film is pretty standard and it's all around good acting. But omg. The slow, subtle deterioration of Barbara's mental state as a result of her vampiric personality was brilliantly acted. Of course, props has to go to the direciton and the writer, but the acting really brings it out. If you're still scratching your head about who she is, she plays M in the James Bond films.

Final Comments:
Story: 8.5 (Zoe Heller [Novel], Patrick Marber [Screen])
Direction: 7.9 (Richard Eyre)
Acting: 8.8
Cinematography: 6.8
Music/Sound: 6.0

Final Score: 8.0

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