Notes on a Scandal
|
List Price: Our Price: $2.45 You Save: $12.53 (84%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Notes on a Scandal
Movie Review: Fatal Attraction - Remarkable acting !!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I wouldn't really call this movie a thriller, yet it has the flavor of one.
It is very intelligent ( the way the older teacher narrates the story in her immpeccable english, and choice of words) and it is also very... creepy.
The story line GRABS you.
The acting is totally convincing,
and the director did an awesome job.
It tells the story of two women teachers. Judi Dench plays an old maid who is lovesick and totally obsessed with younger attractive women, and
Cate Blanchett plays the object of her affection.
When Blanchett begins her job as an art teacher at the school where Dench teaches, the 2 become quick friends, and although Blanchett is married and has 2 children, it doesn't stop Dench from developing a crush...which turns into a sick obsession.
Blanchett has an obsession of her own, directed toward a student, and as
Dench discovers her secret, she uses it as blackmail against her.- Not for money, mind you, but to be her "confidant" and control her life,
for it fills Dench's empty, lonely and pathetic life.
Dench plays such a disturbing role here, that it sent chills down my spine.
While she hurts Blanchett with her blackmail, she pretends to be the good friend, and the woman's helping hand.
Well, I am not going to reveal too much here because it will ruin it,
I will say (and the title gives this away) that a scandal erupts, and throws BOTH of thier lives into complete chaos.
Both women give outstanding performances here that will leave you thinking about this movie long after it's over.
Movie Review: Noteworthy Scandal
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the best films 0f 2006 mostly fueled by searing performances from its two leads Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, Notes on A Scandal is a top-notch dramatic tale of obsession and desire.
Dame Judi Dench gives an exquisite performance as an overbearing and scheming elderly lesbian, Barbra Covett, whose love for her objects of desire very often resides on the side of maddening fixation. And it's no different with new teacher colleague, Sheba Hart, played by Blancett. There begins Barbra's intense feelings toward Sheba until she discovers Sheba's infidelity towards her husband by having an affair with a 15-year-old teenage student. Dench's character then works to keep the friendship with Sheba by emotionally blackmailing her. Dench's performance is every bit riveting and powerful as her expressions fully convey her strong will to make Sheba hers by going all the way out. Barbra must be the one of the most repulsive lesbian stalker on screen.
Cate Blancett is very competent as the weak-willed Sheba who gets herself into a dilemma that threatens to destroy both her career and family. While she juggles to keep her secret, prevent her family from falling apart and placating the elderly Barbra, her character finds no place to head to except to relent to Barbra's demands.
While the film contains not even an onscreen kiss between the both, the scene where Barbra tries to seduce the helpless Sheba by feeling down her hands is enough to invoke lust and sensuality.
This is truly a masterful film with solid acting performances. (A)
Movie Review: An excellent adaptation of a fantastic book
Summary: 5 Stars
"Notes on a Scandal" is the film adaptation of Zoe Heller's brilliant novel. The story is about Barbara (Judi Dench), a lonely, clingy spinster who latches onto Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), the new art teacher at her school. Shortly after Barbara and Sheba become friends, Barbara learns that Sheba is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. Barbara demands that Sheba break off the affair immediately, which Sheba agrees to do, but she can't bring herself to go through with it and keeps seeing the boy in secret. Meanwhile, Barbara decides not to go to the authorities because she doesn't want to lose her friendship with Sheba, and also takes pleasure in the upper hand she now has in their relationship. Barbara soon realizes that she's not as important to Sheba as Sheba is to her, and so she lets information about Sheba's affair with the student slip to a mutual colleague. When the scandal erupts in the school and in the media, Barbara desperately tries to prevent Sheba from learning the truth about who let the cat out of the bag.
I've read the book "Notes on a Scandal," which I enjoyed very much, and this movie is a wonderful adaptation. Both Dench and Blanchett are perfectly cast in their roles and deliver excellent performances. The film forces viewers to question their own morality because even though Sheba carries on a sexual relationship with an underage boy, her character can easily be pitied, and Barbara's character is the person who comes across as the true villain.
Overall, this is a great movie. I recommend it to everyone.
Movie Review: "The Difference Between Life As We Dream It And How It Is"
Summary: 5 Stars
Sheba Hart(Cate Blanchett) is a young, attractive art teacher at a London public school. Barbara Covett (Judi Dench)is an old, lonely history teacher at the same school. They become friends following a classroom fight. But Barbara, a closet lesbian, wants much more. She soon discovers a way to control Sheba when she finds that Ms Hart is having a sexual affair with a 15 year old student named Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson).
But Barbara's obsession with Sheba grows ever more intense and she finally ends up spilling the beans when she discovers that Sheba has continued her secret affair with Steven. Somehow Sheba still continues to believe that Barbara is her "friend" and even goes to live with her after being kicked out of the house by her husband. Finally Sheba finds out Barbara's true intentions by reading her diary and all hell breaks loose before they part on bitter terms.
As many have already noted, the acting is excellent. But what I like most about this film is Patrick Marber's script. It's full of literary references and subtle humor, intelligent and artistic without unnecessary pretension. The truth is that Barbara and Sheba are actually more alike than they first appear, two self-centered woman driven by loneliness and lust into a series of foolish decisions that create pain for others. Neither character is likable. But they are both extremely interesting and it's impossible to turn away as you watch them self destruct. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: the best of judi dench
Summary: 5 Stars
Judi Dench just gets better and better over the years. It's nice to see her doing something else, from time to time, other than playing "M" in the James Bond series.
Dench plays Barbara Covett, a lonely history teacher of a prestigious London school, who is in search of a companionship. Her previous companion has just been recently terminated from the school. She has no one but her faithful cat.
Then enters Sheba Hart (Blanchett), a rookie teacher who struggles to maintain discipline and order upon her students. However, during an incident, the two teachers soon warm up to each other.
Soon, Barbara believes that Sheba could be "the one". Here you'll think, "ooo, a lesbian romance." However, that soon shatters Barbara's hopes when she accepts an invitation from Sheba for dinner, only to discover that there is a family.
Although deflated, Barbara still holds an attraction to Sheba. That is until she spies Sheba in an uncompromising situation with a student, Steven Connolly. From there, things really get messy as Barbara plays "a game of chess" with Sheba's life. As terrible as Sheba's crimes, Barbara doesn't really want to report her but rather, she desires Sheba's companionship, including her loyalty. The problem is that Sheba desires other things.
Despite the sensitive subject, I thought the film was well worth watching with Dench and Blanchett playing their roles beautifully.