Lust, jealousy, and revenge come cloaked in the guise of friendship between an art teacher (Cate Blanchett) who has an affair with her under-aged student and a domineering, voyeuristic history teacher (Judi Dench), in this psychological drama. (allmovie.com)

Cate Blanchett and Dame Judy Dench are absolutely wonderful in Notes on a Scandal. The premise: Blanchett plays a teacher, Sheba Hart, at a public school in London who has an affair with one of her 15 year old students. Dench plays another teacher, Barbara Covett, who befriends Blanchett but ultimately makes the affair public when she feels Blanchett has betrayed their friendship. Barbara has a history of becomin obsessed with women and wanting them to be more than just close friends. She’s a very lonely woman seeking the kind of romantic intimacy she needs where there is none to be found since these women don’t return her affections. Sheba is lonely on some level also, married to a man maybe about 15-20 years older than she, saddled with two children (a teenage daughter who I think is from his first marriage and a young boy with down syndrome). Hence her very stupid (and illegal) decision to begin an affair with a 15 year old boy.

Both Sheba and Barabara act, stupidly mind you, on their loneliness by engaging in “affairs” that are unhealthy and deluded. And of course, both pay dearly for their deluded decisions. Judy Dench is especially amazing. Her protrayal as the very pathetic and still very human Barbara Covett was moving. I felt empathy, sympathy and embarassment for her. Blanchett was great as Sheba Hart. Exceptional as always. The soundtrack stood out as well. Reminescent of old black and white films with very dramatic scores but better in that the dramatic peaks of the scores mirrored the emotional heights of the characters in a given scene. For example, as Barbara is walking up the stairs to Sheba’s house for the very first time after being asked to join Sheba and her family for dinner, the music gets very dramatic representing Barbara’s excitement, nervousness and fear in this next step in the building of her relationship with Sheba. Richard Eyre’s directing was solid. Very simple, never under or overstated. Fabulous film all together!

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