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Notes on a Scandal

Long ago, I heard that Zoe Heller's novel, Notes on a Scandal was being transformed into a screenplay, and as a huge fan of character-driven plots that dive into the inner complexities of the mind, I was immediately intrigued. More specifically, I love movies about human behaviors that are oh-so-difficult to explain. The story opens up by introducing an art instructor named Sheba Hart (played by Cate Blanchett), who takes a job teaching a bunch of teenage boys at a school in London. Although she seems to have a somewhat challenging yet fulfilling homelife - (older husband, teen daughter and slightly younger son with Down syndrome), something inside of her must be terribly wrong. Adapting this scandalous, psychological thriller for the screen was Patrick Marber (Closer, Asylum), and with only very subtle references as to why a woman who seems happy in her life would get entangled in a highly secretive and morally taboo affair with her 15-year-old student, it is up to the audience to try and figure out what the character, herself, does not fully understand.

As human beings, we often float through life making attempts to stay on a familiar path, but our thoughts (followed by actions) can sometimes steer us off course. When this happens, we lose insight into ourselves, and shamefully begin to feel an adrenaline rush as we travel down an unknown road. However, fear runs parallel to this kind of rush and becomes overwhelming if we start heading into extremely dangerous, "off-limit" territory.

Initially, it is the thirty-something year old teacher's affair with her adolescent student that appears to be the story's big scandal; however, as another teacher at the boy's school narrates the film with a tone that is intense, dark and not-quite-right, we soon realize that the true scandal is yet to come.

When an old-school teacher named Barbara Covett (played by Judi Dench) embarks on the teacher-student affair, she uses this discovery to drag another person into her lonely web of isolation. Rather than simply befriend Sheba (as the unsuspecting teacher thinks), Barbara begins to possess her colleague as she pulls the sticky strings tightly around her new "subject" until Sheba finds herself unable to breathe.

Powerful, intense, and delightfully disturbing - Notes on a Scandal is the reason why I love filmmaking. As the number of movies being made continue to grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to find a unique story route to take on screen. However, director Richard Eyre (Iris, Stage Beauty), writer Patrick Marber, and an unbelievable cast manage to bring us something different while still remaining within the Three Act Structure, and not deterring to a point where we are stranded somewhere in left field.

Written by: Megan Rellahan

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