Lord of the Fans

Film Review: Notes On A Scandal.

This dark and broody tale of lust, deception and perverse temptation is as faithful an interpretation of the novel by Zoe Heller as is viable for the big screen; a rollocking roller-coaster of a psychological drama with as much bite—or more—as some horror films.

Sheba hart is a late thirties sweet and innocent middle-class school-teacher who gets a job at the same London school as the villainous Barbera (played by an outstanding Judi Dench). Sheba quickly becomes a mysterious presence at the school and a source of great interest for teachers and students alike. Barbera, more than anyone, finds her both alluring and fascinating. At first Barbera’s fixation with the new girl appears to be little more than overzealous admiration for her ability to do wrong things, but it soon becomes clear that there is a very dark side to this school-teachers deeply obsessive personality. What comes as a shock is that Sheba could almost be considered as bad.

But what is driving Barbera? Is she who she appears to be, and what about the history of the last person to fall victim to her possesive ways? As in the book, this question is what powers the story forward, as Barbera befriends Sheba; telling her to end the affair she has started with a student by the name of Steven Connolly (played well by actor Andrew Simpson). When Barbera discovers that the affair has not ended, things take a turn for the worst for Sheba: a set of events is set into motion as Barbera goes about manipulating her friends—of whom there are few—and enemies.

Notes is an unusual film, and so much more than the sum of its parts; it is in places funny, weird, daft and downright shocking. Like the book, we see the happenings in the first-person, through the eyes and warped mind of Barbera, almost as if it were a documentary unfolding in real-time; and, indeed, the source material is very close to the bone. Several media stories in the last few years have covered similar issues, asking the question, who should govern who we fall in love with?

Some thrilling news before I go, I was talking to my brother the other week and he has just got a amazing new gig at an human resource software company. Well done Oliver