Oscars 2008 & "Notes On A Scandal"

As has been mentioned by many people, there weren't that many surprises at this year's Oscars for me. It seems that any film Daniel Day-Lewis is in means he's always going to win Best Actor (I know that's not true but that's how it feels). I had a suspicious feeling that Marion Cotillard would win after her triumph at BAFTA earlier this year, and it once again falls into the Oscar rule that anyone who plays a real-life person is more likely to win these days. Tilda Swinton was a bit of a surprise, I must admit - I really felt that Cate Blantchett would win for her role in I'm Not There.

All the awards for No Country For Old Men were worthy but predictable. One big surprise for me was that Ratatouille won Best Animated Feature when it was up against arguably the more academy friendly Persepolis. I was also disappointed with the rules and regulations that meant The Diving Bell And The Butterfly could not be nominated for Best Foreign Film, which I'm sure it would have won easily if it had been.

Have already raved about "Falling Slowly" winning Best Original Song...but I'll rave about it again - yay! In fact, this year's Oscars was a nice, spaced out event where each of the big hitters won at least one Oscar. All I can say is thank goodness Norbit didn't win for Best Make Up, unless it was make up to hide Eddie Murphy's embarrassment.

*****

[Also today I thought I'd treat you all with my review of Notes On A Scandal which I watched a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy!]

Throughout history, the power of the diary has been displayed in numerous ways. Without the surviving memoirs of Anne Frank we would not have such a heartbreaking piece of evidence of, not only entrapment and Nazi Europe, but also the growth and maturity of a young girl into a young woman. Recently Alistair Campbell, the former PR man of Tony Blair, former Prime Minister, caused a slight scandal by publishing his own diaries from the Blair period.

In Notes On A Scandal the power of the diary is paramount to the story and characters. Barbara Covett (Judi Dench) writes daily of her disgust at the society around her, of the school where she works and its students, of her blossoming friendship with new art teacher Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett). But as the film progresses Barbara's diary becomes much more than a journal of mere observation. It becomes a detailed dossier of a rather sinister yet simple plot of blackmail, when Barbara catches Sheba in a very compromising position with a student, Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson), which threatens both her job and her marriage to older husband Richard (Bill Nighy).

This film is more or less a showcase for two powerful performances by two very fine actresses. This is probably the most satisfying character I have seen Dench play since the first time she appeared as 'M', 007's boss in GoldenEye. At first resembling nothing more than a bitter, lonely old crone, Barbara slowly unravels into a cold-hearted, creepy, manipulative woman intent on gaining companionship and more whatever the cost. Blanchett goes from bohemian to lust addict, tired of just being a wife and mother, yet terrified of losing everything she has. Towards the end of the film, however, there is a scene of complete emotional breakdown where, unfortunately, she seems to go into rather unbelievable OTT mode.

The rest of the cast don't really stand a chance when you have two such commanding leads. Nighy, always likable, is good in his role, yet it feels rather one-sided. There doesn't seem to be a reason as to why Sheba wants to have an affair, for Nighy's character seems to be the perfect husband and father figure, and a potential deja vu history that is brought out later on in the film is brushed aside to concentrate more on the relationship between Barbara and Sheba. Andrew Simpson is quite impressive, but again there do not seem to be many reasons why Sheba would want to risk everything for this character.

The power of the diary, and I feel the film's final message, is what also brings Barbara down. The book on which the film is based is perhaps more powerful than this better-than-average adaptation simply because it IS the diary that she is writing in. The endless debate of books vs films rages on, of course, but this film will be a worthy addition to either side's argument.

7/10

Laters.