AFTER an unbearably dry December week, there is something sensual to the heat that makes one feel less guilty about dozing off in front of a Judi Dench movie every night while the thunder threatens outside. Last night it was Notes on a Scandal (2006) again, on which I decided to celebrate her 90th birthday – it would feel as fresh as it was when it came out and I was still in high school.
Among her many awards, the fact that she has been honoured three times by the British royal house certainly stands out – in 1970 she received the highest British civilian award when she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), in 1988 she became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) and in 2005 a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Perhaps it is rather the way in which she lives close to nature that makes her age so slowly. Dench has created a forest in her back garden by planting trees in memory of friends, family and actors who have passed on – including a tree for her husband, British actor Michael Williams, who died of lung cancer in 2001. They were married for almost 30 years, and had one daughter, actress Finty Williams.
“My life is just trees, now. Trees and champagne," she confesses with a twinkle in her eye in the documentary My Passion for Trees (2017). But, in fact, her life remains as closely intertwined with theatre as the forest in her back garden is lush.
Judi Dench was born on 9 December 1934 in York, England, into a family with strong ties to the theatre. Her father, Reginald Dench, was also the official physician for the York theatre group, where her mother, Eleanora, worked as a costume designer.
She grew up backstage, so to speak, with her two brothers, including Jeffery, who also became an actor. Although she initially considered a career in fine arts, her love of the stage was ignited when she joined her brother in theatre productions and went on to study at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.
Dench's most prominent film role was probably as “M", the head of the MI6 spy agency in the James Bond series of films. She played this role from GoldenEye (1995) to Skyfall (2012) and has been widely praised for her authoritative and emotionally nuanced performance.
She only got her first Oscar nomination in her sixties, for Mrs Brown (1997), after she had begun acting in the James Bond series. Another outstanding role was as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1998), for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She has also received seven Laurence Olivier Awards for her contributions to theatre, and several Bafta, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards, establishing her as a prominent figure in film and theatre.
In Notes on a Scandal Dench plays Barbara Covett, an unpopular teacher and recluse, envious of the world, who is close to retirement. When new bohemian art teacher Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett) joins the staff, Barbara sticks to her like gum and begins a friendship full of rancour.
The movie is approached from the haughtiness of her diary, in which she painstakingly writes down her condemnations and characterises the people around her every night. When Barbara catches Sheba in an affair with an underage scholar, she gets the chance to exert control over her by emotionally blackmailing her.
Many fine nuances in the interpretation are expressed only through her eyes, as if one experiences the flight of a hawk in it: In the opening scene, her eyes sweep out of a window over the school's playground before they hone in on the newly arrived Sheba.
She watches her prey with great interest without batting an eyelid as her thoughts reverberate on the screen like a gently entrancing stream of water. Her voice is authoritative. A hint of sarcasm lurks behind her pouty mouth and becomes a mysterious smile as she introduces herself to Sheba. Her penetrating gaze clamps you to the screen like a strong handshake from which you try to slip.
While the scene where Barbara mourns the loss of her cat highlights the humanity under the skin of the callous monster, Dench delves even deeper into Barbara's depraved traits. She can appear obliging until she suddenly slides her nails across your throat. In the scene where Sheba encounters Barbara on her way to her Down Syndrome son's school performance, Barbara begs her to stay with her as a companion after her cat's death. When Sheba refuses, Barbara immediately changes, making her feel like a bad friend and mother as she threatens her to expose her affair with the minor.
It's a shame that Dench didn't receive an Oscar for best actress in Notes on a Scandal: Aside from the role of Barbara being a major departure from Dench's niche of sophisticated period piece women, it's rare for an actress over 60 to gain recognition for portraying a complex lesbian villain. Notes on a Scandal is an adaptation of a novel by Zoe Heller, which is not based on a true story, as rumoured.
Dench won 55 awards out of 203 nominations in her career. She celebrated her 90th birthday with family and friends, including a dinner hosted by James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli.
In interviews ahead of her birthday, Dench shared insights about her outlook on ageing and life, and her determination to keep living vivaciously. Despite health challenges, including macular degeneration, she remains actively involved as an actress and has recently been in Allelujah (2022), a film adaptation of Alan Bennett's play, and she also played the role of the beloved grandmother in Kenneth Branagh's film Belfast (2001).
Even at the age of 90, and with her failing eyesight, Dench perseveres and continues to land quality roles in an industry notorious for its impermeability to actresses when they reach a certain age and their name doesn't rhyme with Berryl Beep.
♦ VWB ♦
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