Notes on a Scandal

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Homepage: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465551/
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Reviews (1)

Filled Star - Denotes One PointFilled Star - Denotes One PointFilled Star - Denotes One PointEmpty Star - Denotes No PointEmpty Star - Denotes No Point by martinp on 29 Jun 2007

If you liked Patrick Marber's play/screenplay "Closer" about people being cruel to each other in their search of love and sex, then his adaptation of Zoe Heller's novel, although more subtle, will appeal to similar psychological tastes. Cate Blanchett plays a beautiful young teacher who finds in one of her young pupils an obsessive lust that is lacking in her marriage. Judi Dench plays the older teacher (and narrator of the film) who develops an even stronger obsession with this new arrival.

The psychological aspects of the story are very well handled. The only place it is let down is at the dramatic climax, where a couple of crucial scenes are unsatisfying.

The DVD extras include a director commentary and a few featurettes. They don't greatly illuminate the making of the film but talk more about the characters (and since the film itself paints the characters so well, this isn't necessary).

Not a film to get wild about, but worth getting hold of for an evening and watching with friends. You can view it as a film about loneliness and obsession, or alternatively as an 87-minute treatise on how captivating and heavenly Cate Blanchett is.

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