In Notes on a Scandal Dame Judi Dench seizes the screen and doesn't let it go. Her performanc of Barbara Covett reveals to us a complex and rather pathetic history teacher in a London high school, whose cold and calculated life is spent in quiet loneliness and desperation. Ms. Dench reminds us, as she does in all the roles she plays, what great acting is--the ability to play a character from the inside out, without comment or restraint.
Barbara Covett is a lonely old spinster, a self-described battle ax, who the students dislike intensely but whose authority is never questioned. When the new art teacher, Sheba Hart, played beautifully and with great sensitivity by Kate Blanchett, joins the faculty, Barbara takes more than casual notice. She begins writing about her in detail in her most current notebook, which we soon learn is the latest of an ongoing collection of notebooks where she unlocks her life and reveals her innermost secrets.
Barbara preys on Sheba, getting the younger and beautiful woman to trust her--especially after Barbara discovers Sheba having sex with one of her 15-year-old students, Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson), and promises to say nothing to the headmaster in exchange for the promise that Sheba will break off the affair. And of course now Barbara has her in her power. The older woman uses her knowledge of a potentially damaging secret to manipulate a friendship, even when it starts to reveal the older woman's obsession and malevolence.
Dench's performance is so believable that we can see tiny, almost imperceptible shifts in her expression as she moves through feelings of desire and joy to twinges of self-conciousness, jealousy and hurt. Her eyes change in shape and hue as her emotions glide from one thing to another. Sometimes they take on the frightening appearance of snake-like slits of evil. At other times we almost feel sorry for this dreadful and solitary spirit.
Ms. Blanchett's portrayal of Sheba is a powerful match for Dench's performance. She is soft and flexible as compared to the hard, steadfastness of Barbara. Her movements are liquid. Her skin is porcelain as compored to the lined face of a woman who has most assuredly never or rarely known the touch of sensuality.
Barbara zooms into Sheba's household like a bird of prey, snatching what is good and light, twisting and turning it between her talons, and finally, releasing it to the ground--bleeding and in pain.
Notes on a Scandal was nominated for an Academy Award and adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Zoe Heller. Patrick Marber wrote the screenplay and the film was directed by Richard Eyre. The soundtrack was compsed by Philip Glass.
