Review of Notes on a Scandal (2006) by Dawdlingpoet — 22 Nov 2021

This is a story with a few plot twists, of which I felt certainly one or two were obvious but others came as quite a shock. Certainly it made me question who was in control and what the motives were behind the two main characters. The musical score is quite sombre and perhaps slightly haunting. The pace of the movie is quite good and it becomes really quite tense and nerve wracking towards the end, when many questions come to light that really make you wonder about the basis of the two ladies friendship and what will come.

Dialogue wise, its a bit academic, with Barbara both shown on screen as a main character obviously but also providing the voice over, where she always seems to be very much of a thinker, speaking her mind and being well spoken, she's quite careful with her words, describing things very precisely and being quite specific, if that makes any sense. She comes across as someone who believes she holds all her own cards, who plans out everything she does and is somewhat of a manipulator. This is what made the film rather compelling, as most of it was spent by me trying to see if I could second guess her motives and how the story would pan out. As well as Barbara, of course there's Sheba (a fairly uncommon name, surely?), who is perhaps less of an interesting character - she comes across as someone who at first appears quite strong and self assured but who ends up in a rather vulnerable situation, ironically, given what she does is seen as obviously taking advantage of a vulnerable, underage person. I thought this was a well scripted movie which is really very tense and quite dramatic in parts. I found the plot twists quite good overall and thought it was quite a compelling watch. The ending is particularly chilling and poignant, I felt. The musical score I should perhaps say is particularly good, it really fave it a sinister feel at times. I should maybe also point out that the story in terms of Sheba pursuing a relationship with the under age pupil turns out to be somewhat of a sub-plot, certainly in terms of scenes between her and the pupil its kept to a minimum. Ultimately this is a movie about communication, trust and manipulation. I found myself feeling quite sorry for Sheba's children, one of which has downs syndrome, which I presume is added to compel the viewer to feel sorry for them in a sense?.

Content wise, there's the ocassional use of strong language, although it isn't as bad as in other films with its rating, plus of course some scenes of a sexual nature, although nothing too gratuitous. There is some mild to moderate violence present as well but perhaps moreso the sinister undercurrent, brought out well by the musical score - this is perhaps not for anyone especially paranoid? maybe I'm being a bit too cautious in saying that but there you go(!). Hopefully that gives you an idea of what it consists of, roughly. Cast wise, the two main characters are played by Judi Dench (as Barbara) and Kate Blanchett (as Sheba). Judi Dench gave a particularly convincing, rather haunting performance as Barbara and Kate did well enough portraying the rather headstrong yet ultimately flawed Sheba. Other well known cast members include Bill Nighy, who plays Shebas husband, a nice enough man who is rather clueless to what goes on for the most part and Philip Davis as Brian, a man with an interest in Sheba who approaches Barbara for advice. Genre wise, I'd classify this as a psychological thriller more than anything else.

As far as down sides are concerned, it could be argued that Sheba is a bit of a hard character to feel sorry for, in terms of what she does and becoming vulnerable herself - she chose to put herself in that situation, even though (as she admits) she knew she shouldn't have. Also, before the pace had really hot up half way through the movie, there was an element of the two characters seeming like perhaps slightly unlikeable, somewhat **** people, which obviously doesn't make it too compelling but that changes as the story develops and more plot twists unfold.

Yes I'd recommend this movie, as I felt it was well written and was quite suspenseful, the ending being quite good and even poignant. It has a good use of score and features multiple plot twists which kept me guessing, although one or two may be slightly obvious, it certainly wasn't all.