In the post-war, pre-Beatles London suburbs, a bright schoolgirl is torn between studying for a place at Oxford and the rather more exciting alternative offered to her by a charismatic older man.
I watched from the perspective of a 40 something dad with a 16 year old daughter and believe any parent struggling to encourage their daughter to revise for GCSEs or A levels should let them watch An Education. An insightful look at what might happen if a seemingly perfect 30 something man was to fall in love with a 16 year old girl. Great film.
At first An Education may seem to be a simple film that considers how the consequences of making teenage decisions, fuelled by hormones, can affect the rest of your life. However it is so much more than that.
Carey Mulligan (last seen as Rachel in the excellent "And When Did You Last See Your Father" as well as the lovable Sally Sparrow in perhaps the finest ever episode of Dr. Who - Blink) takes on her first lead role and stuns as the young Jenny in 60s England.
Supported to great effect by the always dependable duo of Peter Sarsgaard and Alfred Molina, An Education is a fine film, played perfectly by its cast. Some say that Mulligan is most likely to step into the sort of roles that Kate Winslett would have played ten years ago. Praise indeed for the young actress, but thoroughly deserved.
Directed by Lone Scherfig and written by Nick Hornby for the screen, adapted from Lynn Barber's memoirs the film is all the more affecting and poignant for the fact that it is based on real events. An Education is a touching and mesmerising coming-of-age story about a teenage girl living in 1960s suburban London who meets a charming and wealthy man, nearly twice her age, who sweeps her into a whirlwind romance.
Scherfig's direction is excellent. A light touch he directs his actors with care and precision. The result is compelling, sad and uplifting. An Education received three Oscar nominations and should have won at least one of them.
Highly recommended viewing.
My viewing of this film was made all the more fascinating, because it was preceeded by a talk by Lynn Barber, on whom the main character, Jenny, was based. Lynn is very impressed by the accuracy of Carey Mulligan's portrayal of her, and the attention to detail that went into the film.
Carey Mulligan is so plausible in her intelligent, critical questioning of the adults around her, and the apparant incongruences they exhibit in regard to the advice they continually bestow upon her. Watching this blossoming of a school girl into a sophisticated woman is just a complete joy. Peter Sarsgaard is perfectly cast as the sophisticated, yet really very weak daliance, David, who manages to convince Jenny's parents that he has friends and influence. Rosamund Pike is marvellous as the drop dead gorgeous, but desperately thick, girlfriend of David's friend, Danny (Dominic Cooper). With a perfect, albeit small performance, as the disappointed school maam, Emma Thompson has the audience in stiches.
You cant help but feel sad for Jenny's dad's (Alfred Molina) lack of appreciation of Jenny's need for his guidance, and his own worldly ignorance, and Jenny's mums gushingly delusional, high regard for David, which contribute to the mistakes that Jenny makes.
This is a film to make you appreciate the almost impossiblity of making the right choices when your body if fully loaded with teenage hormones. A must for the young, and not so young to share the pleasure together.
An Education, set in 1961 (arguably a more innocent age), sees a 30-something man picking-up a sixteen-year-old school girl soaked in the rain, with the fantastic chat-up line "If you had any sense you wouldn't take a lift from a strange man, but I'm a music lover and I'm concerned about your cello."
David (who's rather creepy at times) is a charming man who's got the gift of the gab and has confidently graduated from the "University of life". He offers, the gifted yet bored teenager, Jenny, a new adventure-filled life, which leads her to forget her Oxford University aspirations along the way. However, David, the confident, parent-pleasing schmoozer, is too good to be true. He lures Jenny with the trappings of adulthood but she soon learns (the hard way) that there's no such thing as a shortcut and that the life she dreams of means hard work, not hard play.
Verdict
This seductive coming of age film features a stunning performance from Carey Mulligan (Jenny) and fantastic direction from Lone Scherfig - well deserving of its Oscar nominations!
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Coming-of-age drama set in 1960s London, adapted for the screen by novelist Nick Hornby from the memoirs of journalist Lynn Barber. Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is an intelligent young woman on the brink of her 17th birthday, destined for a promising yet somewhat narrow future at Oxford University and beyond. Longing for romance and sophistication to inject some excitement into her humdrum schoolgirl existence, she finds herself caught in a whirlwind romance with the mysterious and much older playboy David (Peter Sarsgaard). Mulligan won Best Actress at the 2010 BAFTA Awards for her performance, while the ensemble supporting cast includes Alfred Molina, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike and Emma Thompson.
Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. Coming-of-age drama set in 1960s London, adapted for the screen by novelist Nick Hornby from the memoirs of journalist Lynn Barber. Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is an intelligent young woman on the brink of her 17th birthday, destined for a promising yet somewhat narrow future at Oxford University and beyond. Longing for romance and sophistication to inject some excitement into her humdrum schoolgirl existence, she finds herself caught in a whirlwind romance with the mysterious and much older playboy David (Peter Sarsgaard). The ensemble supporting cast includes Alfred Molina, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike and Emma Thompson.
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