Notes on a Scandal (2006)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Richard Eyre

Writers (WGA):

Patrick Marber (screenplay)
Zoe Heller (novel)

Release Date:

5 January 2007 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

One Woman's Mistake Is Another's Opportunity...

Plot:

A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.

Plot Keywords:

Teacher | Student | Cat | Friend | Art Teacher

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 35 nominations

Cast

Judi Dench	...	Barbara Covett
Cate Blanchett	...	Sheba Hart
Tom Georgeson	...	Ted Mawson
Michael Maloney	...	Sandy Pabblem
Joanna Scanlan	...	Sue Hodge
Shaun Parkes	...	Bill Rumer
Emma Kennedy	...	Linda
Syreeta Kumar	...	Gita
Andrew Simpson	...	Steven Connolly
Philip Davis	...	Brian Bangs (as Phil Davis)
Wendy Nottingham	...	Elaine Clifford
Tameka Empson	...	Antonia Robinson
Leon Skinner	...	Davis
Bill Nighy	...	Richard Hart
Juno Temple	...	Polly Hart

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some aberrant sexual content.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:M18 | UK:15 | Ireland:16 | Australia:MA | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/16 (Qualidade) | South Korea:18 | Malaysia:18PL (DVD) | Japan:R-15 | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Cavendish Hotel, Grand Parade, Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

BBC Films

Trivia:

When Barbara has had her meeting with the headmaster at which he reveals what he knows about her stalking of Jennifer Dodd, she throws up in a school toilet. In the background, on the wall, is written the graffiti: "Babs Covett = nasty old lezza. I want to lick her mangy twat."

Goofs:

Continuity: When Sheba confronts Barbara about her diary, the makeup (eyeliner) she has smudged by crying changes. One moment she had dark thick eyeliner on, the next moment she has very little of eyeliner still on, and then the eyeliner comes back as before.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Barbara Covett: [voiceover of Barbara writing in her diary] People trust me with their secrets. But who do I trust with mine? You, only you.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Dizzy

Jarring Notes Superbly Performed

Judi Dench and Cate Blanchet both have played the fierce Queen Elizabeth I in their careers and here they fight for the crown in a royal match that is as entertaining as it is jarring. Two civilized women breaking into very uncivilized patterns of behavior. A highbrow story with a tabloid sensibility performed with truth and gusto. Bette Davis would have killed for Judi Dench's part at the time of Baby Jane and although there is nothing grotesque in the way Dame Judy presents us her monster, the monster herself is grotesque. She explains, in a witty and consistent voice over, what's in her mind. The center of her intentions become so appallingly clear to us that Cate Blanchet's slowness to catch up becomes exasperating. Maybe her suffocating domestic situation throws her into the arms of her absurdity. She seems a woman searching for validation without any real vocation. A teacher who doesn't believe she can teach, a mediocre wife a light weight mother. Judi Dench is relentlessly solid in her madness made of longing and fears. I left the theater with a desperate need for a double scotch on the rocks, just to take a strange taste off my mouth.