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Name of the movie you are reviewing: Notes On A Scandal.
A salacious borderline psychotic old woman teacher, develops a platonic one sided relationship with a co-worker who it's having an affair with a minor.
Review:
I don't remember exactly if in the past (probably i have) experience Judi Dench acting, but it was a great experience. I knew this movie from some years, but i never really wanted to see it or actually put effort on downloaded or on television. I think i saw an scene where Cate Blanchett (love her) in HBO last year, but it was almost ended the movie so i prefer not to see the final.
Maybe it's a generational thing, but i'm more familiar with Cate Blanchett work than Judi Dench, and i wanted to see the movie more for liking Blanchett very much and just know about Dench all the respect and reputation se have accumulated in the industry, i have faced some performers who were revered and i didn't like their work in the past, so i prefer to be cautious with the opinions from both people working in the industry and fans of their filmography. I'm happy i got it very right with Dame Judi Dench.
I love the performances of both Judi and Cate, they were astonishing, i could sense the commanding presence Judi let when the camera capture her working, as much as Cate too, i saw the two of them i want to make myself believe, they felt like children playing in the kindergarten, they work wonders each other, bouncing their reactions. As much as the Academy Awards may not be always fair, i think the percentage were they nominate quality work it's a little higher, and no wonder both of them received an acting nomination for their work. Now, besides of the lead actresses, every actor in the cast did a good job too.
The story was nice too, i really liked it. Now, i did some research specially because at the beginning i was debating with myself if the Judi Dench character, Barbara Covett was a lesbian; and i read this small critique about how the person writing it thought the story was homophobic because apparently Barbara ask in exchange for not telling Sheba her secret about having an affair with a minor, sex. I didn't see it, neither in subtext or tacitly; we see how Barbara it's fantasized about a relationship with Sheba she doesn't have, along the screenplay it shows how Barbara perceives certain acts or lines to her (as how they invited her to a France city i don't remember at the moment as congracious, when she perceived it as an invitation for being Sheba's girlfriend) let's us know how her character have some traces of unreliable narrator thanks to other exchanges with characters; for example we have at the moment of Barbara's cat, she goes back to Sheba's house to get her because it's unbearable for her the pain of put to sleep her cat, and we can listen the commentaries of Sheba's family complaining about her presence; she it's not as welcomed as she thinks (Barbara's).
Also, i don't think there's anything homophobic about the movie, i read the final part of these review that talked about how important it's positive representation on media and how white cis men doesn't have a problem with it. This person it's clearly biased, i think it's important for positive representation when it comes for people from the LGBTQ+ community, however; not everybody in that community are good people and should be clear at the moment of the depiction, now it's obvious there's some tropes that make some members of the community make it seem bad (specially trans woman), but in this case with this movie, there's none trans woman character and people prefer to pay attention to the highest commercial appeal movies like ''Psycho'' or ''The Silence Of The Lambs'' , and not for example Everything about my mother and ''Midnight in the Garden Of Good And Evil'' with transexual actress Lady Chabliss, oops.
There's not, in my opinion, an homophobic tone in the screenplay; Barbara was a woman who liked another one who wasn't a lesbian; and it's something that happens almost every single day. Aside from the fact Sheba it's a pedophile, i don't see anything bad, and no, there's none indirect or direct sign of Sheba and Barbara have sex in exchange of keeping said secret.
Sheba have sex with the minor which i just remember the last name it's Connelly; it started almost from the beginning the problem from the plot, and Barbara just keep the secret until almost the end of the movie. And the obsessive infatuation (borderline erotomania) Barbara have with Sheba it's the dynamic of most of the movie and it's interesting to see. Something about the past review, specifically coming with one of the conclusions that probably people where more scandalous by how Barbara was obsessed with a straight married woman, than the fact she was a pedophile; sadly i have to agree. There's a misogynistic trait not necessarily impregnated in the movie but in the society were women pedophiles doesn't get the prison time they should get, different from men pedohpiles. However, that theme belongs to a sociocultural conversation and not a movie review like this one.
The cinematography and direction was nice, i really like it. The movie it's very fluid and have a good rhymnt which it's nice, other movies touching similar aspects (like American Beauty or Lolita), however; the difference here relies on how, as different from aforementioned movies, this movie feels a little more fast in terms of how everything develops than American Beauty and Lolita it's those type of stories that feel like a slow burn, a story that have much more to unravel that touching a delicate subject such as pedophilia. I don't think it's specially bad in this movie, and at the end were Sheba received 10 months of prison it's a direct relationship with, how i stated before, i think women pedophiles don't get the same amount of law scrutiny and punishment as men in that regard, uncomfortably accurate.
We know more about the characters through the situations around the center of the plot; than multiple situations that concur along one big contextual plot (Lolita talking about how Humbert lives his life and how being obsessed with Lolita shakes his world, and in American Beauty the uncomfortable situations that Lester have with his wife and his daughter; and for a little time with his boss after getting fired). I wish we knew more about the past of Barbara, just a tiny more; on how she become more fixated on creating situations on her mind and where started, tiny details like at least for me i like them, there's as much we can know about one another through just the development of one stagnant scenario.
Maybe this it's a more private opinion, but when a movie finds a way to be watchable through what we can sense as a relatively fast paced, i think it's a way to undermine the subject matter, or it's just me?
The end was nice too, It's difficult to signaling the flaws of the movie when i'm constantly thinking about the performances of both Cate and Judi. Something i'll do different for me was the less graphic sexual relationship between the Connelly adolescent and Sheba (Cate Blanchett) because there's a little bit of in my opinion (again) fetishization of their encounters; i understand a couple times as a shock value for try to evoke some emotions on us, but all the, what... 4-6 times they have sex, we have to see all of them? c'mon now.
But overall, the movie doesn't let you with any question on air that hasn't been answer. And the impression of the acting leads it's genuinely something that keeps in your head a little bit, when sadly you'll not remember much of what the movie talks about.
Also, love to have know some 3 or 4 new words thanks to the creative decision to let Barbara talk on a posh-cynical covert narcissistic undertone in her words and way to express herself. A nice detail enough to dedicated an small paragraph to it.
Would you recommend this to other users? Yes.
Rating(1-5):
A salacious borderline psychotic old woman teacher, develops a platonic one sided relationship with a co-worker who it's having an affair with a minor.
Review:
I don't remember exactly if in the past (probably i have) experience Judi Dench acting, but it was a great experience. I knew this movie from some years, but i never really wanted to see it or actually put effort on downloaded or on television. I think i saw an scene where Cate Blanchett (love her) in HBO last year, but it was almost ended the movie so i prefer not to see the final.
Maybe it's a generational thing, but i'm more familiar with Cate Blanchett work than Judi Dench, and i wanted to see the movie more for liking Blanchett very much and just know about Dench all the respect and reputation se have accumulated in the industry, i have faced some performers who were revered and i didn't like their work in the past, so i prefer to be cautious with the opinions from both people working in the industry and fans of their filmography. I'm happy i got it very right with Dame Judi Dench.
I love the performances of both Judi and Cate, they were astonishing, i could sense the commanding presence Judi let when the camera capture her working, as much as Cate too, i saw the two of them i want to make myself believe, they felt like children playing in the kindergarten, they work wonders each other, bouncing their reactions. As much as the Academy Awards may not be always fair, i think the percentage were they nominate quality work it's a little higher, and no wonder both of them received an acting nomination for their work. Now, besides of the lead actresses, every actor in the cast did a good job too.
The story was nice too, i really liked it. Now, i did some research specially because at the beginning i was debating with myself if the Judi Dench character, Barbara Covett was a lesbian; and i read this small critique about how the person writing it thought the story was homophobic because apparently Barbara ask in exchange for not telling Sheba her secret about having an affair with a minor, sex. I didn't see it, neither in subtext or tacitly; we see how Barbara it's fantasized about a relationship with Sheba she doesn't have, along the screenplay it shows how Barbara perceives certain acts or lines to her (as how they invited her to a France city i don't remember at the moment as congracious, when she perceived it as an invitation for being Sheba's girlfriend) let's us know how her character have some traces of unreliable narrator thanks to other exchanges with characters; for example we have at the moment of Barbara's cat, she goes back to Sheba's house to get her because it's unbearable for her the pain of put to sleep her cat, and we can listen the commentaries of Sheba's family complaining about her presence; she it's not as welcomed as she thinks (Barbara's).
Also, i don't think there's anything homophobic about the movie, i read the final part of these review that talked about how important it's positive representation on media and how white cis men doesn't have a problem with it. This person it's clearly biased, i think it's important for positive representation when it comes for people from the LGBTQ+ community, however; not everybody in that community are good people and should be clear at the moment of the depiction, now it's obvious there's some tropes that make some members of the community make it seem bad (specially trans woman), but in this case with this movie, there's none trans woman character and people prefer to pay attention to the highest commercial appeal movies like ''Psycho'' or ''The Silence Of The Lambs'' , and not for example Everything about my mother and ''Midnight in the Garden Of Good And Evil'' with transexual actress Lady Chabliss, oops.
There's not, in my opinion, an homophobic tone in the screenplay; Barbara was a woman who liked another one who wasn't a lesbian; and it's something that happens almost every single day. Aside from the fact Sheba it's a pedophile, i don't see anything bad, and no, there's none indirect or direct sign of Sheba and Barbara have sex in exchange of keeping said secret.
Sheba have sex with the minor which i just remember the last name it's Connelly; it started almost from the beginning the problem from the plot, and Barbara just keep the secret until almost the end of the movie. And the obsessive infatuation (borderline erotomania) Barbara have with Sheba it's the dynamic of most of the movie and it's interesting to see. Something about the past review, specifically coming with one of the conclusions that probably people where more scandalous by how Barbara was obsessed with a straight married woman, than the fact she was a pedophile; sadly i have to agree. There's a misogynistic trait not necessarily impregnated in the movie but in the society were women pedophiles doesn't get the prison time they should get, different from men pedohpiles. However, that theme belongs to a sociocultural conversation and not a movie review like this one.
The cinematography and direction was nice, i really like it. The movie it's very fluid and have a good rhymnt which it's nice, other movies touching similar aspects (like American Beauty or Lolita), however; the difference here relies on how, as different from aforementioned movies, this movie feels a little more fast in terms of how everything develops than American Beauty and Lolita it's those type of stories that feel like a slow burn, a story that have much more to unravel that touching a delicate subject such as pedophilia. I don't think it's specially bad in this movie, and at the end were Sheba received 10 months of prison it's a direct relationship with, how i stated before, i think women pedophiles don't get the same amount of law scrutiny and punishment as men in that regard, uncomfortably accurate.
We know more about the characters through the situations around the center of the plot; than multiple situations that concur along one big contextual plot (Lolita talking about how Humbert lives his life and how being obsessed with Lolita shakes his world, and in American Beauty the uncomfortable situations that Lester have with his wife and his daughter; and for a little time with his boss after getting fired). I wish we knew more about the past of Barbara, just a tiny more; on how she become more fixated on creating situations on her mind and where started, tiny details like at least for me i like them, there's as much we can know about one another through just the development of one stagnant scenario.
Maybe this it's a more private opinion, but when a movie finds a way to be watchable through what we can sense as a relatively fast paced, i think it's a way to undermine the subject matter, or it's just me?
The end was nice too, It's difficult to signaling the flaws of the movie when i'm constantly thinking about the performances of both Cate and Judi. Something i'll do different for me was the less graphic sexual relationship between the Connelly adolescent and Sheba (Cate Blanchett) because there's a little bit of in my opinion (again) fetishization of their encounters; i understand a couple times as a shock value for try to evoke some emotions on us, but all the, what... 4-6 times they have sex, we have to see all of them? c'mon now.
But overall, the movie doesn't let you with any question on air that hasn't been answer. And the impression of the acting leads it's genuinely something that keeps in your head a little bit, when sadly you'll not remember much of what the movie talks about.
Also, love to have know some 3 or 4 new words thanks to the creative decision to let Barbara talk on a posh-cynical covert narcissistic undertone in her words and way to express herself. A nice detail enough to dedicated an small paragraph to it.
Would you recommend this to other users? Yes.
Rating(1-5):
