In a nutshell, Richard Eyre’s new film is a disturbing glimpse into the lives of two devastatingly lonely women. Judi Dench plays an embittered school teacher, an authoritarian whose depressingly vacant social life drives her to manipulate the deadly secret of the new art teacher. Sheeba Hart (Cate Blanchett) stars as the sexy, bohemian teacher who seduces the likes of a fifteen year-old student as a reaction to her fading youth and failed life aspirations. This film represents the worst taboos known to the cinematic tradition: as the cataclysmic intentions become revealed, Judi Dench’s portrayal of a desperate ageing lesbian surfaces to a longing obsession. “To be so chronically untouched that the slightest brush of the bus conductor’s hand sends a jolt of longing – straight to your groin…” Could this be any more titilating?
