Notes on a Scandal Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Notes on a Scandal Blu-ray Movie Review

Blanchett and Dench hit all the right 'Notes'.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 19, 2014

Lillian Hellman raised a lot of eyebrows when her 1934 play The Children’s Hour addressed scandalous gossip about an alleged lesbian affair between two teachers at a tony all girls’ school. The play was a sizable hit, despite the fact that it was actually illegal to mention homosexuality in a theatrical presentation (Hellman was subtle, but the play was almost intentionally provocative for its era, though authorities never took any action against it or its creative staff). When it matriculated to Hollywood in 1936 as These Three, the gay subtext was completely removed, apparently with Hellman’s tacit approval, and it wasn’t until 1961 that These Three’s director, William Wyler, finally revisited the property under its original title and with most of its original plotline intact. While homosexual teachers involved in a relationship would barely raise anyone’s blood pressure in at least some quarters of American society these days, there’s still one taboo in school life that instantly sparks ire and condemnation, namely affairs between teachers and students. There’s a perhaps prurient, even salacious, interest in stories like that of the now infamous Mary Kay Letourneau, but that tale, while extreme in some ways (there have been very few marriages from such unions), is certainly not unique. The scandal at the heart of Notes on a Scandal is in fact one concerning a neophyte art history teacher named Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett) who embarks on a torrid romance with a 15 year old student named Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson). However, Notes on a Scandal’s conceit is that the story is told by a kind of harridan older teacher named Barbara Covett (Judi Dench), who true to her surname does in fact covet a relationship with Sheba. While there’s no overt lesbianism at play here, it’s perhaps hinted at, with Barbara a lonely, embittered old woman who hasn’t come completely to terms with her own social (and perhaps sexual) needs.

Covett narrates the story via the film conceit of Barbara voicing various journal entries she’s making. In an interesting rhetorical gambit, she actually refers to “you” in an early entry, subliminally linking the audience to the story, perhaps unwillingly. Barbara has been around the school forever, and even describes herself as a “battleaxe”, but she’s not above feeling jealous anyway when the free spirited Sheba shows up and seems to collectively take everyone’s breath away. In one of the screenplay’s slyer elements, Barbara spends the first several journal entries castigating Sheba for virtually everything the younger woman does, until Sheba reaches out in appreciation and friendship after Barbara helps her break up a fight between two students. Then Sheba is suddenly a godsend to Barbara, and the intrigue begins.

Sheba seems blithely unaware of some of Barbara’s darker tendencies, even inviting her older coworker to her home for Sunday brunch, something that Barbara takes as an invitation to some socially prominent soirée, completely dolling herself up in the process. When she arrives at Sheba’s home, she’s shocked to find that Sheba is married to a much older man named Richard (Bill Nighy), and that she is mother both to a petulant teenage girl as well as Down syndrome boy. Somehow, this only makes Sheba more fascinating to Barbara, and after the two retire to Sheba’s private studio, the bond is cemented with a long confessional (not really overtly depicted in the film) where Sheba spills her guts to the elderly woman.

Well, maybe not all of her guts, for Sheba keeps one rather major secret from Barbara that only unspools a bit later when Barbara stumbles upon Sheba and student Steven Connolly in flagrante delicto in a classroom while the school’s Christmas concert is underway. That instantly grants Barbara even more power over Sheba, or at least the appearance of power, for Sheba is such a wispy creature that for Barbara it becomes akin to trying to control water. A kind of at times delicate, at times acerbic psychological cat and mouse game ensues, where Barbara’s motives may in fact be only for some kind of companionship, or may have a deeper, sexual pull.

The patrician qualities of both Blanchett and Dench are almost a given, as best exemplified by their celebrated portrayals of the same queen (Blanchett in Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and Dench in Shakespeare in Love), but here they’re asked to depict working class, albeit highly educated, women. Blanchett is probably a bit too glamorous for her role, but her allure at least makes her spell on Steven more believable. Dench is here not merely “de-glammed”, she’s actually uglified (if I may be permitted to coin a word). Sporting a hairstyle that can only be charitably described as looking like soggy rat tails, and with a vicious, almost psychotic, glower emanating from her face, the most frightening thing about Dench’s Barbara is how unbelievably vulnerable she is. (Both Dench and Blanchett received Academy Award nominations for this film, though neither won.)

Notes on a Scandal plays almost like a more genteel version of John Fowles’ The Collector, especially given this film’s coda which sees Barbara, after having marauded through several lives wreaking untold havoc (including on her own life), is still out there searching for a BFF. Unlike the disturbed hero of Fowles’ novel, Barbara doesn’t resort to outright abduction. Instead she psychically and emotionally vampirizes her victims, a kind of sociopathic black widow who lures prey in only to deliver a poison sting.

Notes on a Scandal Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Notes on a Scandal is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. Chris Menges lensed this film, and it offers a somewhat subdued palette that is perhaps intentionally designed to mirror what Barbara perceives as the drab confines of her life. For this reason, there's not a lot of pop to this presentation, and in fact some of few instances of outright color are in moments like the Christmas concert, where stage lighting adds some richer hues into the mix. Contrast is generally strong, though Menges likes to backlight his characters quite a bit of the time, giving them slightly effulgent halos (not in the sense of an artifact). Colors, while never overly vivid, appear accurate. Fine detail is quite good, aided by the use of close-ups. No overt digital manipulation of the image is in evidence.

Notes on a Scandal Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Notes on a Scandal's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix never really has a chance to "wow" with surround activity, other than with its Oscar nominated Philip Glass score and some immersive moments when Barbara and Sheba are outside and ambient environmental sounds are present. Otherwise, this is a rather quiet, dialogue driven film, and while there's no huge surround element, fidelity is excellent and the track has no issues of any kind whatsoever to report.

Notes on a Scandal Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Director Richard Eyre. Eyre provides an interesting account of the film, from the adaptive process to what it's like to work with Dench and Blanchett.


• Notes on a Scandal: The Story of Two Obsessions (480i; 12:21) features the cast and crew, including original novel author Heller, discussing the film's plot and characters.


• Notes on a Scandal: Behind the Scenes (480i; 5:11) is kind of arbitrarily split off from the previous featurette, as it offers many of the same participants discussing the same issues.


• In Character With: Cate Blanchett (480i; 2:07) features Blanchett discussing her character.


• Webisodes (480i; 13:59)


• Theatrical Trailer (480i; 2:25)

Notes on a Scandal Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While Nighy and Simpson look on from the sidelines (along with a couple of other supporting players), Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett hold center stage in what is essentially (to use theatrical parlance) a "two hander" that requires both actresses to be on screen for virtually the entire running length of the film. Dench is imperious yet oddly fragile, and Blanchett ably portrays a woman who has just kind of drifted into an untenable position. Both of the actresses are superb and help Notes on a Scandal overcome some dramatic inertia and overly melodramatic plot points. This Blu-ray release looks and sounds fine, and fans of the film should be generally well pleased with the results. Recommended.