Dame Judi Dench reigns as the quintessential wintry demure English actress. In Notes On A Scandal, she can add another gold star to her resume. While many box-office turn Oscar hopefuls demonstrate their serious talents in their 20s and 30s sophomore efforts, Dench is already well into her seventies. And she amazingly demonstrates tremendous flair and mastery in each role she takes on. In fact she may well be acting in her prime. In her latest offering from fellow English Richard Eyre, she teams up with Cate Blanchett to form explosive and terrifying consequences in could have otherwise been a tedious and lifeless melodrama.
Barbara (Dench) is an ageing and estranged college teacher lacking any real relationships and on the realisation that her professional and personal lives are fading away. She befriends the new teacher Sheba Hart (Blanchett) and begins to act as a confidante and mentor to her; each other revealing their darkest secrets. When Hart crosses into a relationship with a young charismatic student and Barbara discovers them together, she begins to make personal demands from Hart and they both enter a caustic tangle of cat-and-mouse.
The story flows well with both the of characters fully developed and fleshed out over the course of the film. We begin to discover more about their hidden fears and morals; the events in the film are revealed with honesty and integrity, never patronising or over-dramatising these complex characters. It is candidly and smoothly filmed with hand-held camera and the directing never take stage over the character's dilemmas. The screenplay by Patrick Marber is biting, witty and scathing, full of deadpan dry humour, and some magnificent artful passages worthy of being in a Booker Prize-winning-book. Hearing Dench recite some of these lines is pure heaven - she acts with such clarity, decisiveness and honesty. Most satisfyingly, it is fully realistic and reasonable and never reduces to melodrama or cheap exits.
The score by renowned American composer Phillip Glass must be mentioned; it probably one of his best film scores. His usually overpowering doomsday apocalyptic music is instantly recognisable and emotionally shattering. Here it works to great effect, heightening the desperateness and claustrophobia experienced by the characters in a world of lies and secrecy.
The leads' work pretty much speaks for itself. Dench is an exercise in slow-boiling restraint, of passive aggressiveness that never fails to drop your jaw in awe of her talents. She can be timid, resolute, thoughtful and in an instant a vicious terrifying, geriatric nightmare. But her character still remains fully dimensional with a dark history and shades of genuine tender affection in the scenes with Blanchett.
Blanchett is sultry and heartbreaking as the apprentice naive teacher. She expertly conveys he shades of her double life at home and at school and reacts beautifully in her scenes with Dench. Her soliloquy are heartfelt and tempestuous. Director Richard Eyre is confident in showcasing their passions and heartache; he simply and effectively allows their acting to grab hold of the audience.
They are both magnificent throughout - the scenes where Dench discovers that the affair is continuing and also the climax of the the diary scene are astounding. There is a vicious and ferocious rhythm in these scenes heighten by Glass' music. They are so asphyxiating, real and kinetic in their danger. So fantastic that the acting literally brought me to tears of joy and awe. The diary scene is one of the greatest moments in screen acting
Nominated for 4 Academy Awards - Actress, Aupporting Actress, Score and Adapted Screenplay - and fully deserving for each of them, if not for the tough (and probably better) competition this season. If you want to see a story with a clever sonorous script and magnificent no-frills acting, then you must catch this one. Entralling and thrilling to the end, it was a pleasure to be in The Dame's company once again.
Barbara (Dench) is an ageing and estranged college teacher lacking any real relationships and on the realisation that her professional and personal lives are fading away. She befriends the new teacher Sheba Hart (Blanchett) and begins to act as a confidante and mentor to her; each other revealing their darkest secrets. When Hart crosses into a relationship with a young charismatic student and Barbara discovers them together, she begins to make personal demands from Hart and they both enter a caustic tangle of cat-and-mouse.
The story flows well with both the of characters fully developed and fleshed out over the course of the film. We begin to discover more about their hidden fears and morals; the events in the film are revealed with honesty and integrity, never patronising or over-dramatising these complex characters. It is candidly and smoothly filmed with hand-held camera and the directing never take stage over the character's dilemmas. The screenplay by Patrick Marber is biting, witty and scathing, full of deadpan dry humour, and some magnificent artful passages worthy of being in a Booker Prize-winning-book. Hearing Dench recite some of these lines is pure heaven - she acts with such clarity, decisiveness and honesty. Most satisfyingly, it is fully realistic and reasonable and never reduces to melodrama or cheap exits.
The score by renowned American composer Phillip Glass must be mentioned; it probably one of his best film scores. His usually overpowering doomsday apocalyptic music is instantly recognisable and emotionally shattering. Here it works to great effect, heightening the desperateness and claustrophobia experienced by the characters in a world of lies and secrecy.
The leads' work pretty much speaks for itself. Dench is an exercise in slow-boiling restraint, of passive aggressiveness that never fails to drop your jaw in awe of her talents. She can be timid, resolute, thoughtful and in an instant a vicious terrifying, geriatric nightmare. But her character still remains fully dimensional with a dark history and shades of genuine tender affection in the scenes with Blanchett.
Blanchett is sultry and heartbreaking as the apprentice naive teacher. She expertly conveys he shades of her double life at home and at school and reacts beautifully in her scenes with Dench. Her soliloquy are heartfelt and tempestuous. Director Richard Eyre is confident in showcasing their passions and heartache; he simply and effectively allows their acting to grab hold of the audience.
They are both magnificent throughout - the scenes where Dench discovers that the affair is continuing and also the climax of the the diary scene are astounding. There is a vicious and ferocious rhythm in these scenes heighten by Glass' music. They are so asphyxiating, real and kinetic in their danger. So fantastic that the acting literally brought me to tears of joy and awe. The diary scene is one of the greatest moments in screen acting
Nominated for 4 Academy Awards - Actress, Aupporting Actress, Score and Adapted Screenplay - and fully deserving for each of them, if not for the tough (and probably better) competition this season. If you want to see a story with a clever sonorous script and magnificent no-frills acting, then you must catch this one. Entralling and thrilling to the end, it was a pleasure to be in The Dame's company once again.