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BBC Film
DNA Films
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Ingenious Film Partners
Ingenious Media
Not part of a collection.
One woman's mistake is another's opportunity.
A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.
Filipe Manuel Neto
Feb 26, 2023 · via TMDB
**Lust, loneliness and bitterness in an engaging film with two great actresses.** I was very impressed with this film, which combines two huge and very talented actresses and a script full of tension and very well developed. It's not something new or original, and there are a lot of relatively tense films that are set in a school environment. I can quote one that I saw recently, and that I remembered while watching this film: “The Children’s Hour”. Alright, the movie is about a hypothetical lesbian relationship between teachers, it's a different kind of scandal than what we have in this movie, but somehow it came to my mind. It is not an award-winning film, but it was nominated for two BAFTA, three Globes and four Oscars. Moreover, it was a competitive year, with several great films competing. The script is very loosely based on a real case in which a female teacher had a sexual affair with a minor student. The situation is scabrous and criminal, despite the fact that it is also a type of frequent sexual fantasy to be found. However, the film is not about that, but about the tortuous relationship between the young teacher and an older colleague, who discovers the secret. Lonely, bitter, critical, psychologically unstable, with serious problems relating to other people and, eventually, a strongly repressed lesbian, the elderly woman creates an abusive relationship where she subjugates and blackmails her supposed friend, mercilessly manipulating her to obtain almost exclusivity of your attention. In addition to a really good story, the film has an excellent cast and two great actresses who do a superb job. Judi Dench deserves a standing ovation for the work she leaves in this film: in addition to the sarcastic, almost cruel way in which she narrates the story, the actress was huge and impressive in the way she brought the character to life and played opposite Cate Blanchett. This one, in turn, was also very good, and does an equally good job, but it does not manage to have the magnetism of Dench. The two characters are also very different: Blanchett has on her hands a softer, more one-dimensional, less complex character than Dench, who is given more challenging, more complicated material, and a character who is really challenging to play convincingly. Despite being young, and having a minor role in the film, I also enjoyed Andrew Simpson's contribution. Technically, it is a discreet film, with excellent cinematography, with dark notes of great skill, which help to thicken the tense environment in which the film develops. With good sets and costumes, but within the predictable, and a relatively good soundtrack that was composed by Phillip Glass (not as good as the one he made in other films, however), the film is discreet, but competent, and gives us excellent production values.
badelf
Aug 4, 2012 · via TMDB
This is one of those films like a great pasta dish where everything is just right but somehow you still don't feel the restaurant is justified charging $21.95 for a plate of noodles and tomato sauce. The direction is top notch, Cate Blanchett as Sheba Hart is great and Bill Nighy supporting just works. As much as I usually adore Judi Dench's acting, I thought she was a little too one-dimensional in this role. But given her choice, she executed the role with the usual Dench precision. This is a twisted love triangle story with very real characters. If you're the kind that picks up the dirt rags in the checkout line at the supermarket, you'll probably love the story. I gave it a 7 on my scale. It won't blow you away, but you won't feel like you've wasted your time either.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Judi Dench
Barbara Covett
Cate Blanchett
Sheba Hart
Bill Nighy
Richard Hart
Andrew Simpson
Steven Connolly
Phil Davis
Brian Bangs
Michael Maloney
Sandy Pabblem
Juno Temple
Polly Hart
Joanna Scanlan
Sue Hodge
Julia McKenzie
Marjorie
Shaun Parkes
Bill Rumer
Tom Georgeson
Ted Mawson
Emma Kennedy
Linda
Syreeta Kumar
Gita
Wendy Nottingham
Elaine Clifford
Tameka Empson
Antonia Robinson
Barry McCarthy
Dave
Adrian Scarborough
Martin
Jill Baker
Sheba's Mother
Benedict Taylor
Eddie
Stephen Kennedy
Mr. Connolly
Derbhle Crotty
Mrs. Connolly
Anne-Marie Duff
Annabel
Gabrielle Brooks
Choir Member (uncredited)
Tim Hatley
Production Design
Randall Balsmeyer
Title Designer
Urszula Pontikos
Clapper Loader
Chris Menges
Director of Photography
Tim Hatley
Costume Design
Nadia Stacey
Makeup & Hair Assistant
Penny Ryder
Stand In
Peter Pedrero
Stunts
Richard Eyre
Director
Hattie Dalton
Other
Robert Fox
Producer
Scott Rudin
Producer
Nathan Kelly
Producer's Assistant
Michael Riesman
Conductor
Nico Muhly
Conductor
Philip Glass
Original Music Composer
Nico Muhly
Other
Trevor Gureckis
Other
Michael Riesman
Scoring Mixer
Lee Dichter
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Mike Prestwood Smith
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Joseph S. DeBeasi
Supervising Music Editor
Patrick Marber
Screenplay
Darling
Fox & Penguin
Blossoms Bloom
The Godfather
Apocalypse Now
The Handmaiden
Taxi Driver
Central Station
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
All About Eve
The Lives of Others
Gran Torino
The Iron Giant
Three Colors: Red
In the Name of the Father
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Annie Hall
Boyz n the Hood
Eat Drink Man Woman
Semantic Error: The Movie
The Last Emperor
Talk to Her
Walk the Line
The Name of the Rose
East of Eden
Carol
A Christmas Carol
The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Hurricane
The Experiment
The Big Blue
Trouble in Paradise
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society
Killers of the Flower Moon
Jackie Brown
Murder She Said
Belle de Jour
Dead Man Walking
Gone Baby Gone
Lust, Caution
Night Train to Munich
Easy Land
Ghost
Queen Margot
Even If It Rains
The Player
Out of Africa
Broken Embraces
This Boy's Life
Sweet Rain: Accuracy of Death
Rang De Basanti
The Lovely Bones
The Leisure Seeker
Natural Born Killers
The Tin Drum
Together
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
Good Morning, Miss Dove
The Age of Innocence
Taliesin Jones
Hicran Gecesi
Roots
The Duchess
Layer Cake
Wag the Dog
Revolver
Hard Eight
Making Love
The Three Musketeers
The Bodyguard
Mansfield Park
Corrina, Corrina
Snow on The Blades
Effi Briest
To Die For
The Idiot
Goodbye, Gyulsary!
Male Hunt
The Quiet American
Neandertal
Die Österreichische Methode
The Black Swan
My Name Is Stelios
Khadak
Dear Zoe
The Sum of All Fears
Butterfly on a Wheel
For Love of the Game
Game of Death
Hackers
The Postcard Killings
Warau Iemon
Ana
No Escape
Wolf
Factotum
The Accused
Nathalie Granger
Runaway Bride
The Party Is Over
Raphael or the Debauched One
Die My Love
Meet Bill
The Slingshot
Yung Galore
Young Adam
Heat
Henry Poole Is Here
Home Movies
Chance
Heart of Darkness
Final Analysis
Blonde Ice
The Girl Robinson Crusoe
Marlene
Side Effects
9 Songs
Fraulein
WTC View
Valkoiset ruusut
El lugar donde estuvo el paraíso
Sugar Cookies
Speed Kills
Easy Sex
Love Has Many Faces
Down to You
Separation City
Buying the Cow
Head Under Water
Rain, Rain, Run Away
The Romantics
Sinful Obsession
As Long as One Is Intoxicated
Swept Away
Love Life
Playing Solo
I Hate My Body
It Was Infidelity in the Beginning
Appointment in Bray
Street Kid
Ohne Dich!
Gigli
Alta infidelidad
Passionate Deceptions
An Odd Evening in April
Let's Break Up
Bootyful
Sweet Rabbit
Dobara Alvida
Orpheus Star
A.B.
Moi Et Mon Ami Sicamer
Napoleon's Nose
Analog Love
Two Good People
7 Miles Out
Mistr a Markétka
It Burns!
There is an End in Friend
Untitled
American Beauty
Nocturnal Animals
Lolita
Little Children
Lolita
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Revolutionary Road
Cruel Intentions
Dream Lover
Unfaithful
Anna Karenina
The French Lieutenant's Woman
The Pillow Book
The Only Living Boy in New York
Miller's Girl
Heatwave
Adulterers
Anna Karenina
The Mother
Addicted
The Man from Elysian Fields
Submission
Deep Water
Dec 25, 2006
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Bicara Cinta
2020
The Pied Pipers of Harlow
1965
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
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Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
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