Notes on a Scandal (film)
Encyclopedia
Plot
Barbara Covett teaches history at a comprehensive schoolComprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
in London. A lonely old spinster, Barbara's only "intimate relationship" is with herself by means of a diary. When a new, younger teacher Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
) starts at the school, Barbara feels drawn to her and believes that she "may be the one." Barbara discovers that Sheba is having an affair with a student, Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson), and confronts her. When Sheba asks her to not tell the school administration until Christmas so that she can be with her family, Barbara explains she has no intention of telling, as long as she ends the relationship. However, Sheba does not end the affair with Steven, causing Barbara to taunt her emotionally and draw her down, leading her to end the affair with Steven. In months passing, Barbara's grasp on Sheba slowly starts to take hold, with Barbara manipulating and emotionally blackmailing her, causing her attentions to be divided between her family and Barbara.
When Barbara's cat dies and Sheba's loyalties are easily divided, Sheba's husband Richard shouts in anger that her friend is being an evident pain and that his wife is being twisted by Barbara. Alone and feeling betrayed, Barbara seeks revenge by revealing Sheba's affair to a fellow teacher who comes to her asking her if Sheba is interested in him. The fellow teacher spreads the "playground rumour" to Steven's mother. Mrs. Connolly then comes to Sheba's home and hits Sheba. Afterwards, Sheba and her husband Richard bitterly argue. In Barbara's voiceover, she reveals she is glad that they are arguing, knowing that Sheba will come to her for comfort, which had been Barbara's plan to start with. The next day, the media, as well as the school administration, are alerted, and Sheba's affair and her life are turned upside down by the collapse of her marriage, the destroyed relationship with her children and the loss of her job. Barbara is fired from the school after denying to the headmaster that she knew of the relationship; he confronts her with a copy of a restraining order taken out against Barbara by another fellow teacher whom she had previously befriended.
Sheba ends up moving into Barbara's house, believing that the affair became known because Steven confessed it to his mother, but Sheba soon finds Barbara's diary and learns that it was Barbara who leaked the story of the affair, on account of the rather sexual attraction Barbara seems to have for her. When Barbara returns from a shopping round, she is confronted by a furious Sheba, who strikes her in anger. Barbara says she has done her a favour by getting her out of a hopeless marriage. The two of them continue to shout and fight with one another, and Sheba claims that Barbara never really liked her, but in fact manipulated her for her own personal needs. Sheba runs outside with Barbara's journal, to streams of reporters and photographers. She shouts at them in a deluded fashion, but becomes hemmed in by a crush of reporters and photographers, at which point Barbara rescues her. Sheba's emotions spent, she quietly tells Barbara that she had initiated the friendship because she had liked her (Barbara) and they could have been friends. Barbara says she needs more than a friend.
Sheba leaves Barbara, placing the journal on the table. Sheba returns to her family home. Richard answers the door. The two face one another silently for several moments, and then Richard allows her to enter.
Sheba is sentenced to 10 months, and the last scene is Barbara meeting another younger woman who is reading a newspaper reporting the Sheba Hart affair. Barbara says she used to know Sheba, but then says she didn't know her well. Barbara quickly introduces herself, and the other woman introduces herself as Annabel. The pair continue to talk. Barbara mentions attending a classical concert and invites Annabel to join her.
Cast
- Judi DenchJudi DenchDame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
as Barbara Covett - Cate BlanchettCate BlanchettCatherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
as Bathsheba "Sheba" / "Bash" Hart - Bill NighyBill NighyWilliam Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
as Richard Hart - Andrew Simpson as Steven Connolly
- Tom GeorgesonTom GeorgesonTom Georgeson is a British actor, known for his television and film work. His most notable credits have been supporting parts in Between The Lines and in three dramas by Alan Bleasdale; Boys from the Blackstuff Scully and G.B.H....
as Ted Mawson - Michael MaloneyMichael MaloneyMichael Maloney is an English actor.Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Maloney's first television appearance was as Peter Barkworth's teenage son in the 1979 drama series, Telford's Change....
as Sandy Pabblem - Joanna ScanlanJoanna ScanlanJoanna Scanlan is a Welsh actress and television writer, best known for her roles in various British comedy series, such as The Thick of It, Doctors and Nurses, Getting On and Little Britain.-Getting On:...
as Sue Hodge - Shaun ParkesShaun ParkesShaun Parkes is an English actor currently appearing in the ITV drama Identity.-Biography:At 16 he enrolled at Seltec College to study drama, two years later he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.-Career:...
as Bill Rumer - Emma WilliamsEmma KennedyEmma Kennedy is an English actress, writer and television presenter....
as Linda - Phil Davis as Brian Bangs
- Juno TempleJuno Temple-Early life:Juno Temple was born in London, and is the daughter of producer Amanda Pirie and film director Julien Temple. She grew up in Somerset, England and attended Enmore Primary School, Bedales School, and King's College, Taunton...
as Polly Hart - Max Lewis as Ben Hart
- Anne-Marie DuffAnne-Marie DuffAnne-Marie Duff is an English actress best known for playing Fiona Gallagher in Shameless, and Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen.-Early life:...
as Annabel
Filming
The film was shot on location in the Parliament Hill, Gospel Oak and Camden Town areas of north-west LondonSoundtrack
The original score for the movie was composed by Philip GlassPhilip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
. The film features a song by Toots & The Maytals and another by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Critical reaction
The film opened to generally positive reviews, receiving a Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
certified fresh rating of 87 percent. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
called the film a "delectable adaptation" with "tremendous acting from Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, with many blue-chip supporting contributions and a "screenwriting masterclass from Patrick Marber". The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
praised the film, saying: "Notes on a Scandal, is screenwriting at its vicious best... Richard Eyre directs the film like a chamber play
Chamber play
A chamber play is play of usually three acts which can be performed with a small cast and practically no sets or costumes in a small space. The form became popular in the early 20th century, with leading exponents being Max Reinhardt and August Strindberg., first it was adapted to cinema in 1920s,...
. He leans on Philip Glass’s ever-present and insistent music like a crutch. But his natural gift for framing scenes is terrifically assured. A potent and evil pleasure."
American publications also gave the film acclaim, with the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
describing the film as "Sexy, aspirational and post-politically correct, Notes on a Scandal could turn out to be the Fatal Attraction of the noughties." The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
noted the "dark brilliance" and that it "offers what is possibly the only intelligent account of such a disaster ever constructed, with a point of view that is somewhat gimlet-eyed and offered with absolutely no sentimentality whatsoever." The reviewer also identified the film as a "study in the anthropology of British liberal-left middle-class life." Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
heaped praise on the film and the acting performances "Perhaps the most impressive acting duo in any film of 2006. Dench and Blanchett are magnificent. ‘Notes on a Scandal’ is whip-smart, sharp and grown up."
Commercial
The film was also a commercial success. It grossed $49,752,391 worldwide, exceeding its £15 million budget.Awards and nominations
79th Academy Awards nominees:- Nominated: Best Actress – Judi Dench
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett
- Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay – Patrick Marber
- Nominated: Best Original Score – Philip Glass
BAFTA Awards
- Nominated: Best British Film
- Nominated: Best Actress – Judi Dench
- Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay – Patrick Marber
British Independent Film Awards
British Independent Film Awards
The Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.-History:The British...
- Nominated: Best British Independent Film
- Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film – Judi Dench
- Nominated: Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress in a British Independent Film – Cate Blanchett
- Won: Best Screenplay – Patrick Marber
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
The Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, commonly called the Critics' Choice Awards, are bestowed annually by the Broadcast Film Critics Association to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Nominees are selected by written ballots in a week-long voting period, and are announced in...
- Nominated: Best Actress – Judi Dench
- Nominated: Best Picture
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
- Nominated: Best Actress – Judi Dench
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett
- Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay – Patrick Marber
- Nominated: Best Original Score
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards
- Won: Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett
Evening Standard British Film Awards
Evening Standard British Film Awards
The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by the British London area evening newspaper Evening Standard. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony honours films from the previous...
- Won: Best Actress – Judi Dench
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards
- Won: Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett
Golden Globe Awards
- Nominated: Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama – Judi Dench
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett
- Nominated: Best Screenplay – Patrick Marber
London Film Critics Circle Awards
- Nominated: Actress of the Year – Judi Dench
- Nominated: British Actress of the Year – Judi Dench
- Nominated: British Supporting Actor of the Year – Bill Nighy
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards
- Won: Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett
Online Film Critics Awards
- Nominated: Best Actress – Judi Dench
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett
- Nominated: Best Original Score – Phillip Glass
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
- Won: Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards
A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"...
- Nominated: Best Actress – Judi Dench
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards
- Won: Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett