Richard Eyre’s Notes on a Scandal is the filmic adaptation of the novel by the same name, written by Zoë Heller and published in 2003. Barbara Covett (played by Judi Dench) is a lonely old spinster and teacher that is one year away from retirement. A lovely young teacher, Sheba Hart (played by Cate Blanchett) joins their school as the new art teacher, and Barbara keeps a distant eye on her. Sheba struggles to keep afloat with the undisciplined adolescents. Barbara comes to her rescue when she cannot control two boys fighting in her class and invites Barbara to lunch with her and her family out of gratitude. It is the start of an unhealthy friendship. As Sheba confides in Barbara about her discontent with her much older husband and coping with her kids, one of whom is a down-syndrome boy, Barbara becomes more and more infatuated with her. Barbara’s surname is very appropriate – she comes to covet Sheba’s presence and attention. When she discovers that Sheba is having an affair with a fifteen-year-old student, Steven Connolly, she uses it as leverage over her. She will not tell on Sheba as long as she gives her the company and attention she so desperately craves. This secret will, however, have disastrous consequences.
Although this is not a life-changing film, it is a very well-produced one. Even though I have not yet read the novel, I think that Richard Eyre captures the intensity of the two women’s unraveling psychoses very well. The adapted screenplay and editing manage well to drop subtle hints about Barbara’s obsessive, lesbian inclinations. Sheba’s strand of hair that Barbara treasures, and her infantile writing in her diary about the gold star day Barbara spent with her, send alarm bells ringing. And as the film progresses, more is revealed about the dark depths of her psyche. It is evident to see why Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett have received so many nominations for best actress and best supporting actress respectively. They give powerful, theatrical performances and it is refreshing to see a film that is dominated and driven by females. What bothers me is that Steven Connolly remains somewhat of a flat and underdeveloped character, but this might have been an intentional choice by the director or writer, as not to detract from the real focus of the film, which is of course Barbara and Sheba. It is Sheba’s naivety that allows her to be manipulated, misled and taken advantage of.
SPOILER WARNING: Barbara preys on her good nature and manipulates her to spend more and more time with her. And Steven Connolly lies about his home life to gain pity from her. He also preys on her insecurities about herself as a middle-aged wife and mother. The viewer does not, however, really get whether Sheba has remorse for what she has done, or whether she only regrets being caught. She has several chances to end the sexual affair with the under-aged boy, but never does. He is the one that eventually stops the affair because he just wants to have fun and does not want or need to be her emotional keeper.
What is most disturbing is the end of the film, which affirms that Barbara is still a deeply troubled woman. Even after everything that has happened – receiving a restraining order from a former colleague, losing her job, and spreading the rumours that would ultimately lead to Sheba’s downfall and her family’s breakdown, she displays the same psychopathic tendencies as before. When she sees a young woman reading a newspaper article about Sheba Hart, Barbara says that she used to work with her. She uses the woman’s interest in Sheba to her advantage, and leads her to believe that Sheba was cold and distant. When she invites the woman to accompany her to a show, the viewer is cued – the potential exists for events to repeat themselves. SPOILERS END HERE.
Genre: Drama / Psychological thriller
Running time: 92 min
Country: UK
Language: English
Director: Richard Eyre
Writing credits:
Zoë Heller (novel)
Patrick Marber (screenplay)
Producers:
Robert Fox
Redmond Morris
Scott Rudin
Cinematographer: Chris Menges
Editor: John Bloom
Music: Philip Glass
Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Main Cast:
Barbara Covett – Judi Dench
Sheba Hart – Cate Blanchett
Richard Hart – Bill Nighy
Ben Hart – Max Lewis
Polly Hart – Juno Temple
