Blackmail can't buy you love

Notes On A Scandal is a nearly-perfect film, a seductive little foray into deliciously dangerous territory, with tons of seething undercurrent to spare.

In one of the most fearless, fierce and feral performances of any recent decade, Dame Judi Dench pulls out all the stops in her portrayal of the not-so-subtly-named Barbara Covett, the history teacher with quite a past of her own: she continues to deludedly search for a 'companion' with whom to share her life without ever comprehending that love is not a commodity to be bought, sold or traded - it must be given, freely. When she sets her sights on the new art teacher (another great performance from Blanchett), Barbara winds up repeating the pattern, to the same disastrous end result.

A simple story, basically. But it's the brilliant way it unfolds that allows the movie to succeed, on many levels.

The film is narrated by Barbara, in the form of her journals, and this sucks us in straight away. We see we're getting an intellectually on-the-ball character here, which is always attractive, and at the onset, we're almost on her side. By the time we see what's really going on in her twisted version of reality, it's too late, we're already involved - sort of like in a bad relationship - and we have no choice but to see the situation through to its bitter end.

The film also works by being dizzyingly over the top in spots. This has been seen as a detriment by some people, but I think they're missing the point. The situation that spirals out of control in the course of the proceedings IS outrageous, and by going for a blatant approach rather than a more sedate, repressed one, the film mirrors the situation brilliantly. And the actors are all playing it for real - this is not camp, it's not satire - which makes the tragic absurdity of the situation resonate all the more.

There's another element at play here, something far more subtle. In the film, Barbara has a cat whom she is abnormally attached to. A little ways in, I started picking up on how Barbara herself is like a cat - a feral cat, seeking another (more domesticated) cat over whom she can exert control. When her cat dies, Barbara is subconsciously trying to replace her with Blanchett's character, her new "pet". There's a lot to support this. Blanchett's name in the film is Sheba. A brand of cat food. There is also a lot of talk about 'stroking', and there is a scene where Barbara mentions feral animals, how they can sense fear. There are also at least 2 scenes between Barbara and Sheba, where Barbara, who is done being cordial, literally snarls at her, clearly reverting to her primal and vicious feral-cat state. And it's no coincidence that both of the females to whom Barbara is attracted (Sheba, and at the end, Sheba's potential replacement) are shown with cream on their upper lips, something that Barbara finds perversely endearing.

This would have been a perfect film if it hadn't been for one bit of sloppiness toward the end; the way in which Sheba's character learns of Barbara's true motivation and true feelings is written really badly. I just couldn't believe that ol' Barb would become so complacent so as to let Sheba find what she finds, which lets the proverbial cat out of the proverbial bag. Other than this, however, Notes On A Scandal is, very much like Barbara Covett herself, quite the piece of work.