Notes on a Scandal


Gold stars to all for this taut psychological thriller based on Zoe Heller's novel that that gets more insidiously twisted as it unfolds. Oscar-nominated for her chilling performance, Dame Judi Dench gives a master class as schoolteacher Barbara Covett, a frumpy, friendless, and flinty spinster who lives with her cat. A formidable presence, Barbara is standoffish with colleagues and not one for students to trifle with (not that they'd dare). Cate Blanchett, also an Oscar nominee and winner of several critics society awards for her impassioned performance, costars as Sheba Hart, the new, overwhelmed art teacher who first becomes enthrall to Barbara after she steps in to help Sheba discipline unruly students. Barbara cultivates a friendship, and insinuates herself into Sheba's chaotic life, which includes her older husband (Bill Nighy), teenage daughter, and a son with Down's syndrome. Then, Barbara catches the reckless Sheba in a compromising position with a 15-year-old student (Andrew Simpson). Seizing her opportunity, the calculating Barbara does not turn her in. Rather, she wants to "help" her. "She's the one I've been waiting for," she writes in the journals she meticulously keeps, and which provide, in voiceover, her corrosive commentary. This all sounds very Fatal Attraction, but no boiling rabbits, please; we're British. Philip Glass's Oscar-nominated score accentuates the growing menace. Though there is little in these characters to admire, (one would think GLAAD would have something to say about the predatory turn Barbara's character takes), Notes on a Scandal is a compelling tour-de-force for its Grade-A cast. --Donald Liebenson

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My First Encounter of the Iglesia Ni Cristo

If my memory is right, it was during my 1994 Christmas vacation in my hometown in Surigao del Sur when I first heard about the Iglesia Ni Cristo. That was early morning of Sunday when I arrived home and I felt lazy to attend the mass in the church of the St. Augustine Parish, so I just opened our TV and sat down and watched, whatever was the program of that single channel of our television set. From time to time, that situation flashed back at my mind, where Brother Michael Sandoval was preaching about the Trinity, whether this doctrine is biblical or not. It was not just my first time to hear the preaching of an Iglesia Ni Cristo Minister, but it was also my first time to hear a preaching that talked against Trinity. At first, I felt bad learning that my faith was being talked about by this minister and I considered it an attack to my faith. But it did not hinder me to continue to listen the preaching. I just breathed deeply and opened my mind to the attack and tried to understand wh
Read more

Naked Katrina Halili

Image
I received lots of emails from friends and visitors of this blog, " Naked Pinoy ", asking me to send them the photos of Naked Katrina Halili . Actually, I don't have naked photo of Katrina Halili. The images above are taken from the search result of Google Image search.
Read more

www.scandal.com

The www.scandal.com has become the hottest keyword in Google for lots of internet users are looking for scandal. Most of the internet searchers for the www.scandal.com are Filipino or internet users coming from the Philippines.
Read more