Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench both give great performances in a film that verges on becoming melodrama, thanks to the overly dramatic touch of director Richard Eyre. Telling the story of a elderly teacher who befriends a much younger, bohemian art teacher and becomes obsessed with their relationship after the latter becomes sexually involved with a student, the drama is inherent but Eyre feels the need to add music and fast editing techniques to contribute to the tension, meaning the action feels overplayed. Considering Eyre's background in theatre, along with the film's writer, playwright Patrick Marber, suggest that this would have been best left on stage, where the actor's performance would have been much more at the heart of the action without as much intrusion from the director.

Blanchett and Dench have become the most respected actresses of their generations and it's nice to see them both really getting to grips with the material, particularly Dench who all to often is handled to reverentially by casting directors. The switch we see from dowdy history teacher to passionate lesbian to obsessive stalker is gradual and subtle. But I felt this is undone when , after the climactic confrontation between the two, she is seen once again approaching a young woman - her next victim - portraying her more as a serial murderer, rather than the much more interesting idea of her being an unbalanced, lonely and manipulative old woman.

Blanchett on the other half, has rarely been more desirable, for both her female friend and the young student with whom she is enamoured. She has achieved a great status as an actress, particularly considering she has never had to resort to playing a sexy role to gain attention. Here, once again, despite her good looks the role is much more complex than being just a pretty face, and through we gain an insight into middle class marriage in contemporary Britain, and how even in the happiest situations, individuals can feel stifled. Bill Nighy as her husband gives a small but faultless performance.

It's a shame really that these characters needed such a controversial and dramatic story to come to life. The teacher-student romance isn't entirely believable, but then its also a complicated process that brings them together, involving insecurities, dreams and frustrations. It would be nice, however, to get a similar insight into the contrast between sexual, bohemian marriage and asexual spinsterism through a more literal, subtle narrative, along the lines of Cassavetes' 'Faces' or even Fassbinder's 'Fear Eats the Soul', which both present unexpected relationships within convential situations and reveals much more than this film, which becomes overrun with the drama of its genre.