KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * * *
Notes on a Scandal is an intense, captivating and surprisingly funny drama based on the novel by Zoe Heller.
It stars Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, and both performances are worthy of their recent Oscar Award nominations (best actress and best supporting actress respectively). What is so delicious about this very un-politically correct film is that for two such likeable actresses, they play two very unlikeable, deeply flawed characters.
Dench is captivating as the acerbic and lonely Barbara Covett, a spinster school teacher who shares her blunt and delusional thoughts with us through entries in her diary. Dench is perfectly cast and well directed by Richard Eyre, who also directed her in Iris. She manages to make smoking look interesting, and is bitingly funny as she makes cutting comments to everyone around her.
Barbara's life becomes more interesting when a beautiful new art teacher Sheba Hart (Blanchett) starts at the school. The two strike up an odd friendship. Sheba needs someone to talk to about her discontented marriage, and Barbara has deeper and darker ambitions for their friendship.
When Barbara discovers Sheba cavorting with a 15-year-old student, she has all the ammunition she needs to keep Sheba indebted to her. Bound together by their secret, their relationship becomes awkward and lacks any sign of true friendship, more a civility to get what they need from each other. It's a startling psychological exploration of what loneliness and desperation can do to people.
Screenwriter Patrick Merber (Closer) has created a mesmerising character-driven piece through his incisive script, although occasionally it stoops to sounding like two 16-year-old girls having a petty fight. It also draws stunning performances from the rest of its supporting cast, especially from the young Andrew Simpson who plays Sheba's lover.
Notes on a Scandal is a sordid tale. With every choice the characters make the film becomes more unbearable to watch, but gripping at the same time. It's not pleasant but you can't take your eyes off it.
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Dame Judi Dench, Bill Nighy
Director: Richard Eyre
Running time: 98 mins
Rating: M, violence, offensive language, sex scenes
Screening: SkyCity, Hoyts and Berkeley
Verdict: Blanchett and Dench are perfectly cast against each other in this mesmerising character-driven drama
