"Notes on a Scandal" seeks to transform what was apparently a singular epistolary journal-novel (which I have not read) into a multidimensional theatrical masterpiece. And well-crafted indeed is this little psycho-sexual thriller. Regrettably, by the end, digesting the substance is akin to the sensation biting into a long, juicy red steak, only to discover that a couple of millimeters down lies an inedible and unsatisfying web of sinewy cartilage and bone.
Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett are indeed fabulous, although it is hard to imagine either of them being anything less. In spite of their loathsome behaviour--Dench's subversive lesbian seductions and Blanchett's pædophilia--they manage to inject enough humour and charm into their roles to become multifaceted and complex characters. Blanchett's could easily have been nothing more than a whiny, malcontented upper-middle-class shrew, but her naïve, self-conscious flightiness and aesthetic sense are shown to be but manifestations of a longing for true, substantive beauty--and it's easy to identify with her husband, her young lover and her colleague in being enamored of her. (Too easy, actually, given the rather graphic depictions of her affair with Irish lad Steven Connolly).
But it is Judi Dench's character who really stands out. "Notes on a Scandal" attracted a bit of controversy from those who felt its depiction of "repressed lesbianism" wasn't "progressive" enough for the "Gay is Good" times of "Brokeback Mountain." But while arguably a large part of the psychological twist of the film does, indeed, play off of the audience's prejudice against homoeroticism as inherently perverse (not, I confess, a prejudice that offends myself), I would not used "repressed" to describe Dench's character; "closeted" would be more accurate. She is perfectly self-aware of her desires, and she does not seem at all troubled at the inherent conflict between indulging them and nurturing her steadfastly conservative worldview. She seems to fervently believe in the latter. Her character is truly enigmatic, and captivating: it is quite easy to see how Blanchett's could have been so drawn in to her world and missed--or willfully denied--the signs of where this road was really headed.
Regrettably, however, once the film has had enough of exploring these two characters, it abruptly cuts itself off with a climax that turns on a rather incredulous and sloppy premise completely contradictory to Dench's prior development. If Blanchett and Dench really had been fleshed out to the max--which I'm not exactly sure of--why not spend a bit more time exploring Connelly, his family, Blanchett's husband, perhaps? But granting this one major misstep, the ending that follows is "logical," so to say, though hardly satisfactory. We were given the impression that the film set itself up for a deeper or more psychological reading and we are sorely disappointed. "Notes on a Scandal" is a good non-date thriller for those who will not be mind-warped by rather intense depictions of cradle-robbing, but it cannot make the list of "Great Cinema."
Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett are indeed fabulous, although it is hard to imagine either of them being anything less. In spite of their loathsome behaviour--Dench's subversive lesbian seductions and Blanchett's pædophilia--they manage to inject enough humour and charm into their roles to become multifaceted and complex characters. Blanchett's could easily have been nothing more than a whiny, malcontented upper-middle-class shrew, but her naïve, self-conscious flightiness and aesthetic sense are shown to be but manifestations of a longing for true, substantive beauty--and it's easy to identify with her husband, her young lover and her colleague in being enamored of her. (Too easy, actually, given the rather graphic depictions of her affair with Irish lad Steven Connolly).
But it is Judi Dench's character who really stands out. "Notes on a Scandal" attracted a bit of controversy from those who felt its depiction of "repressed lesbianism" wasn't "progressive" enough for the "Gay is Good" times of "Brokeback Mountain." But while arguably a large part of the psychological twist of the film does, indeed, play off of the audience's prejudice against homoeroticism as inherently perverse (not, I confess, a prejudice that offends myself), I would not used "repressed" to describe Dench's character; "closeted" would be more accurate. She is perfectly self-aware of her desires, and she does not seem at all troubled at the inherent conflict between indulging them and nurturing her steadfastly conservative worldview. She seems to fervently believe in the latter. Her character is truly enigmatic, and captivating: it is quite easy to see how Blanchett's could have been so drawn in to her world and missed--or willfully denied--the signs of where this road was really headed.
Regrettably, however, once the film has had enough of exploring these two characters, it abruptly cuts itself off with a climax that turns on a rather incredulous and sloppy premise completely contradictory to Dench's prior development. If Blanchett and Dench really had been fleshed out to the max--which I'm not exactly sure of--why not spend a bit more time exploring Connelly, his family, Blanchett's husband, perhaps? But granting this one major misstep, the ending that follows is "logical," so to say, though hardly satisfactory. We were given the impression that the film set itself up for a deeper or more psychological reading and we are sorely disappointed. "Notes on a Scandal" is a good non-date thriller for those who will not be mind-warped by rather intense depictions of cradle-robbing, but it cannot make the list of "Great Cinema."