I love C. Blanchett. Her talents are just a smidgen beneath M. Streep whom I admire for her brilliant ability to play any character thrown her way. I enjoy J. Dench and I like B. Nigh movies. Even with these three brilliant actors I really could not enjoy this movie because of its subject matter. Not the lesbian part of it, I just can't stand these pedo teachers. I'm so sick of it. I'm disgusted with how the females seem to get away with it and now it's not even a big deal anymore, or that's how it seems to me. It was hard to like a movie when the whole time I'm just irked and disgusted. What was even more aggravating was the teachers attitude, as if she felt she'd earned this. Entitled because of her boring marriage and raising a downs son, now she felt it was okay to have a little innocent fun!!! Blaming the lesbian of ruining her marriage and breaking up her family...is she serious? She did that all on her own. Sickening.

Soapbox first: I read reviews here and was confused and, well...nearly amused except it's so SAD. Judgmental, morals here? I saw comments about how one would not watch the movie due to the teacher/student aspect, I saw whispers about homosexuality (really? is that a problem for you?) and how people would not watch because they did not approve. WHAT? Jaysuz! I watched Bonnie and Clyde and loved it! I watched more than one Ted Bundy movie too, which I gave good reviews to some of them. I've watched movies on the Holocaust, need I say more? Do I approve of shooting people left and right to support a bank robbing habit? NO. Do I even approve of robbing banks? NO! Do I approve of serial killing? NO. No. A thousand times no. THEY WERE all MOVIES...not a review of my morals (or in the case of people condemning homosexuality a review of one's bigotry and prejudices) What is this judging a movie's morals before you can approve, or watch it? My viewpoint-----I watched this movie and was entertained and, well...yes...it was good enough that I was SCARED whilst watching it (hence the five star review: The movie worked. I enjoyed it!) Bad things happened in this movie, just like in real life. Triumphs happened in this movie, just like in real life. Guess what? I watch movies for entertainment - and this movie did just that. It was not complex or mind bending but it was entertaining, I was scared, and I was entertained That's why I watch movies....for entertainment, not for making judgment of the characters to suit some kind of moral standards code, whether legitimate standards, as in the case of having sex with an underaged person or or prejudicial/bigoted standards, such as homosexuality. Thumbs up for a good movie....entertainment!

This was an extraordinary statement about the complexity of this thing called love. It shows the breadth, complexity, and addictive character of that human need. This movie shows deeply felt love, the abuse of it, and the betrayal of it transcending societal standards, age, and sex.
I like Cate Blanchett, but cant say I am a total fan of hers. I loved a lot of stuff she did early in her career: Pushing Tin, Talented Mr Ripley, Elizabeth I (really great), the Aviator as Katherine Hepburn, Blue Jasmine, The Man Who Cried, etc. I guess I missed this one – but glad I found it on Prime. Wonderful performance portraying a very complex character, and a very interesting situation that she creates for herself. I understand the complaint that women teachers, or older women in general, having affairs that are hurtful, destructive, and even tragically disastrous to their husbands, families, and careers are presented as stories of wonderful love, pure love, and sex so perfect that it is irresistible no matter what the cost. Why can’t we have men stories this way? Look at the absolute classic – Lolita. The men come across as tawdry, horny, manipulative, disgusting old pharts. But look at similar stories about women being involved with young men : A Moment of Silence, Before the Dawn, and this one. The women are always morally good people, but just get drawn into having mind blowing sex with an aggressive young man. Regardless of the unfair sexism, I actually like very much these movies, and I liked this one very much despite being so angry at Sheba for being so careless with all of the important things in her life. Yes, he was a total stud, and yes, her hubby was as stale as month old bread, and possibly as moldy. And yes, it was exhilarating and exciting to see her coupling lustfully with the young boy. But life is mostly stale bread and not lustful coupling. And we all have to deal with stale bread, and if we all went for lustful coupling, what kind of society would we be? What would our children be? But if movies were simply real life why would we watch them? This is a movie about some very complex issues related to love, duty, faithfulness, raw beautiful sex, and what love can mean across generational and sex boundaries. I highly recommend it. I am not saying it’s a feel good – but it is wonderfully directed, brilliantly acted, and – it will arouse some feelings. You don’t have to agree with the feelings aroused within me – but watch it. Your own reaction may be different, but you won’t regret watching it.

Judi Dench plays a lonely spinster history teacher with a decidedly severe reputation at a private St. George's school in London, England. Having recently lost a friendship with another teacher and that woman's departure across country, she is immediately and intensely drawn to the attractive new art teacher who possesses a bohemian flare and off-beat lifestyle, to fill the empty void in Bar's life. The younger teacher, Sheba (Cate Blanchett's character) invites the elder, Barbara/"Bar" (Judi Dench's character) to her family home and an odd friendship between the two takes on a life of it's own as the elder woman soon discovers a pedophilic relationship between Sheba and a 15 year old student. Bar's venomous nature and proclivity to befriend women much younger than herself belies an alternative motive and an extreme need to control her highly vulnerable Sheba who has strangely fallen into a pit over her dalliances with the young boy. Bar's destructive nature and secretive lesbian tendencies are revealed as the story unfolds.

Dench and Blanchett in a film together - and, as one would expect, it's delicious! An "older" film that somehow I had never bothered to watch until now. Fair warning, however, this film does not shy away from its subject matter and is explicit, rather than merely hinting, at the relationship between teacher and student, which may be too much for many viewers. But, if one can get past the pedo plot, as trust me, that's only the surface of this plot, not the depth, you should watch it just to see two of the finest actresses of the modern era go head to head and you won't be disappointed.

For armchair psychologists and college Psych majors, this film is a must-watch. It presents a game of cat and mouse between Dench's character, the seemingly lonely elderly spinster teacher, Bar, who is slowly revealed as in fact a cunning and manipulative individual with a clear personality disorder (BPD?) and some very sociopathic traits, and her "victim," the sweet, naive new art teacher, Sheba Hart, played by the otherworldly Cate Blanchett, who is not such an innocent victim after all, as she is but a different kind of victimizer than is Bar, and certainly no saint here.

Very interesting family dynamics and backstory with the Sheba Hart character, and believe me, these details are relevant to the plot and to understanding the character and her affair with her student, a minor. The husband, played by the wonderful Bill Nighy, who makes the utmost of limited screen time, may not be just an innocent doof without guilt, and even the student, certainly a victim due to his youth, still has motivations which are also revealed. This film lays bare predator and prey, hunter and hunted and challenges the viewer to look beyond initial judgement.

This is not some edge-of-your seat thriller with a ton of plot twists and "gotcha" reveals, but something much more subtle. It is an intimate, thought-provoking dive into female friendships, lust and rejection, the loss of youth and innocence, social class, jealousy, and more. In films, one expects a "good guy" and a "bad guy" but this film is brutally honest that people are complex, as are their motivations and drivers, and many shades of gray are revealed here. Ultimately, the characters in this film are deeply flawed, scarred, emotionally immature and unstable and mirror one another. Both the Bar and Sheba Hart characters are truly victims of their own neuroses and narcissism, while things that seem to unravel in this film were things that were already falling apart, unbeknownst to these characters.

Acting at its finest, and a very deliberate and careful approach to what could otherwise be a stale plot. It will stay with you a while.

Even though the setup is rather formulaic, NOTES ON A SCANDAL is a well-executed story about secrets and manipulative relationships, while also slipping in some commentary on gender and class. Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett star as high school teachers who become friends when the former finds about the latter's illicit relationship with a student. However, Judi Dench's character has motives of her own that are gradually revealed as the film progresses. For all of the film's trappings as this "friend becomes a stalker" type of story, Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett's performances anchor it in reality and give it a classy feeling that a lot of other similar films lack. I must say that I completely bought Judi Dench as an aging schoolteacher. Cate Blanchett also did a nice job in a role that I haven't really seen her play before, and a degree of vulnerability that she didn't really show in something like LORD OF THE RINGS. Seeing as her character gets caught doing something rather stupid, it would be easy to just dismiss her character as unlikeable from the get-go, but the way the plot develops actually makes her quite sympathetic (at least compared to Judi Dench's character). If there's anything I can find fault with, it's that the plot really doesn't aspire to be anything other than a melodramatic thriller. Thankfully, the performances and overall execution of the material, along with the direction and cinematography lend it some much-needed credibility. I also loved Philip Glass' score. Overall, NOTES ON A SCANDAL is quite predictable, but it sets itself apart by its pedigree in front of, and behind, the camera.

"Your boyfriend is younger than mine is!" Sheba's teenage daughter screams at her mother as Sheba's life goes up in flames. Well, what do you expect, other than a mushroom cloud, if you put two nuclear-powered actresses, Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, in the same film? Ironically, they've both portrayed Queen Elizabeth I, and their confrontation in 'Notes on a Scandal' rivals the showdown between Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth and Vanessa Redgrave in 'Mary, Queen of Scotts.' Both Dench and Blanchett portray women absolutely lost in impenetrable fantasy worlds. Sheba: "But he's quite mature for his age." Barbara: "Your two years in prison will fly by, then we can live our lives together!"

I happened to watch this right after watching 'The Deep End' with Tilda Swinton, another story of sexual catastrophe. "But, but, but ..." But nothing. Reality does bite, baby.

I see reviews praising Blanchett but this is Dench's movie from beginning to end. I did think someone would wind up dead but this is more subtle. Of course the fool of a husband takes the young teacher back. And of course the diary, the Notes, surface but never are made public. Innuendoes of what happened to Barbara's earlier friend/prey are delighfully intriguing - what exactly happened? And the ending is great....just another day of a new scandal. Highly recommend.