An Education

An Education

Take a star high school senior shooting for Oxford, and add a charming man more like thirty who seduces her (and you) with his utterly kind, gentle, clever, and generous nature.

You can guess what follows. And in a way, that's the let down of the whole thing. The idea is a simple one, yet it unfolds so beautifully, with some extraordinary acting, it is quite engrossing. John Peter Sarsgaard as David, the seducer, is totally convincing, even though we know fairly early that something isn't quite what it seems. As events gradually devolve, so does his character, to a final, deflated ending. The heroine, Jenny, swept into the mess, is played with predictable delicacy by Carey Mulligan, and in a surprise she is really a great supporting role, of sorts, for Sarsgaard, even though she is the star.

Part of the appeal of the movie is the period, early 1960s, as England is finally getting out of the huge debts and doldrums of World War II and the swinging 60s are ready to fly (the Beatles are together but not well known). The old fashioned world, conservative and conventional, of Jenny and her family is dismal and yet comfortable, adorned with small worldly decorations. David brings Jenny to modern life, with its jazzy clubs and trips to Paris, and it's hard not to say his version of life is far superior. Oxford, after all, is so old-school.

It's a joy on all these levels. It doesn't quite have the naturalness it always needs, a few are scenes forced, and the plot lacks complexity (not that complexity is needed, but it needs something to layer it up). Most off-putting of all is the overly precocious Jenny, whose speeches to her schoolmistress and her teacher, and to David, sound like literature, not like a real 17 year old struggling to escape a sheltered upbringing. It doesn't ring true, and the movie depends on believability.

Before I even get to the review, I want to let you know you can currently find this DVD for $2 on the bargain table at your local Blockbuster (if you live in the USA or Canada). Well worth the price.

Now let's get to the movie. If you're like me & somewhat unexcited by the May- December romance story (Lolita, Venus, Pippa Lee, Last Tango, every Woody Allen flick ever made), you might be asking yourself why you're even bothering. The story here is nothing new, and the description on the back of the DVD sums up the plot in 2 sentences: something about a young schoolgirl torn between her conservative life vs. the glamour life of jazz clubs, older men and sex. But despite this age-old premise, it's the presentation that makes it thoroughly engaging and satisfying.

For one thing, it's set in Britain in the early 1960s. The attitudes, costumes and speech instantly take us back to a time when perhaps the plot wasn't so predictable. Much like watching Three's Company which is so undeniably 70s, we are transported back to a time when the now-trite plot wasn't so trite. So even though part of you may sit there shaking your head thinking "I know where this is going", the overall effect is to experience the film not only through the eyes of a naïve 16-year-old but also through the eyes of a somewhat naïve society. Dark-skinned people are called negroes. The term "Jew" is batted around like an insult. Characters in general are hopelessly clueless compared to today's standards. But the film is presented in a way that we all (should) take it in stride.

For that, I'd say this is probably the most interesting of the May-December romance films I've seen. Also I like the fact that it follows the girl's (younger) point of view whereas all the above films take the man's (older) viewpoint which, especially in the case of Woody Allen & Bertolucci, can come across as the director's attempt to justify his own taste in women. This film, rather, stays away from the subjective morality argument and instead focuses on the consequences. So although the story is far from original, I have to admit that the overall tone is something I haven't seen before.

...with the exception of one amazing film, City of Lost Children (by the director of Amélie). Now there's a film that approaches the subject in a thoroughly unconventional and charming way. If you haven't seen that one, go find a copy right away.

PS Alfred Molina!! You'll love Alfie in An Education. If you're not already a fan of his, check out Chocolat, The Hoax, and you MUST see his skit in Coffee & Cigarettes.

An Education works little wonders even if it's an imperfect film. There's much to recommend about it as this season's British indie movie with something different going for it. It's something about its character and the circumstances of what happens to her that's fascinating: sixteen year old Jenny (Carey Mulligan), a smart girl with a love for Parisian culture and music and movies, is pressured to get into Oxford, not even so much for the English degree to teach English (or Latin as case might be) but for the status. Enter in David (Sarsgard), an older man who rides up to Jenny one rainy day and offers her a ride home. From then on its a romantic affair between the two, where he whisks her to wonderful jazz clubs and auctions, and even, eventually, to Paris. A twist happens late in the film that turns all of this upside down, but I dare not reveal it here.

What makes it interesting is not so much the teen girl with adult male aspect (on that side of the coin it's like a British version of Manhattan only told from the girl's point of view and a less conflicted man in the situation), but how the relationship is perceived by her parents and peers and teachers. This isn't some illicit affair to be kept under wraps, but something that (refreshingly for a movie at least) is out in the open, and with that comes the awkward stares and upturned eyebrows, and as well the charm that David exudes on Jenny's parents. It's as much a film about romance as it is about class, about how Jenny fits in or could fit in to a society in Britain in 1961, and how David fits in and how her parents see her fitting in (or, for that matter, how David fits others in as a property re-seller to the black community). And of course the aspect of Oxford vs. getting married, the only options for Jenny at a crucial point.

And now for the rest of the good and... well, not so much bad but just underwhelming. The good is this newcomer Carey Mulligan. One can't wait but to see her in other films; she's a natural at playing a great range of emotions required for this complex character, a girl who thinks and acts and talks like a woman but yet still sort of a girl at the same time (see Jenny's trip to Paris for that). Supporting players like Molina and Williams are also very good, giving their scenes the proper 'umph' needed and gravitas in some key scenes. Sarsgaard fares a little less well with a good performance but less than convincing accent. The screenplay by Nick Nornby (for once he's adapting a book!) and it's written with a natural ear for the way characters at that time might speak. The direction is clear and concise and just handsome enough to be competent. The last ten minutes, however, seem rushed on all of the ends of the storytelling, after such a good momentum has been building on the crest of Jenny's future.

It's a very good movie where we care about the characters and see some life lessons learned with (usually) unsentimental results. It's a tragic-comic crumpet of a movie, dear and serious, amusing but very telling about human nature. 7.5/10

With excellent acting and excellent visuals this is a good film, as a Chaucerian cautionary tale, or a retake on Congreve, it succeeds in buckets. But more even than the excellent script by Nick Hornsby is a marvellous performance by Carey Mulligan.

It tackles what is an incredibly sensitive subject, more so today than even in its setting, the relationship between a teenager and an older man, with definite aplomb. What could have been either an anachronistic script filled with moral sensibilities that didn't surface in 1961 or a cheap and tawdry sensationalist production is handled with verve, humour, and brings both the wonder of first love and the seductive ability of that love to steer lives in directions we'd rather not go out in ways that work very well indeed.

Carey Mulligan has more than a touch of sensibility about her and is, obviously, the more mature, yet still a naive genué - her performance is to be admired for its ability to not switch characters but rather hold a fast course that is totally believable. I seriously cannot think of any debut in the past 20 years that has this weight. Like Taylor in National Velvet or Johnny Mill's daughter in Whistle Down the Wind you just know you are watching something very special indeed.

All the parts are very well written by Nick Hornsby and what we get is both complex and light, a witty drama with depth that truly evokes the post-Suez and Macmillan era; Britain before the Beatles but a Britain full of a generation who didn't wanted to be reminded of rationing and the Blitz, who were searching to get away from the drudgery of a boring job-for-life that was killing their parents by degrees.

While there are moments of real unease, not surprisingly given the subject matter, there is nothing to not recommend about this: it is thoughtful, funny, intriguing, and marks the start of a significant career for Carey Mulligan who will certainly become one of the leading British actresses of her generation.

In the cinema certain historical periods have become associated with a particular set of ideas. The 1960s represent change, progress and excitement whereas the 1950s are frequently regarded as a period of stifling social conformity. Of course, the "swinging sixties" did not necessarily start to swing on 1st January 1960, and in retrospect the first few years of the decade seem to have more in common with the conformist fifties than with the "swinging London" era of the later sixties. Certainly, many young people during this period regarded London as a dull, conservative place, and looked eagerly to foreign cities, especially Paris, as being more exciting and radical. There was an enthusiasm for everything French- French philosophy, French literature, French cinema, French fashions, even French jazz and French cigarettes. This Francophilia doubtless included elements of wishful thinking- De Gaulle's Fifth Republic was a more conservative place than many Britons realised- but it was nevertheless an influential phenomenon. It is a phenomenon explored in Julian Barnes' novel "Metroland" (later filmed), and also in this film.

The main character is Jenny, a teenage schoolgirl living in the London suburb of Twickenham in 1961. Jenny is highly intelligent, and is studying hard with a view to taking the entrance exams to Oxford University. She is not, however, really sure why she wants to go to Oxford, except that she is being pushed to do so by her parents who feel that university is the best place for her to meet a wealthy husband.

Jenny's life changes when she meets a handsome and charming older man named David. They quickly become close friends and begin dating. David is clearly wealthy, and claims to be an art dealer and property developer. More important to Jenny, however, is his knowledge of culture. He is well up with all the latest intellectual and artistic fashions from France and takes her to concerts and jazz clubs. What really impresses her is that he takes her to Paris. Eventually, David proposes to Jenny and she accepts and drops out of school without taking her A-levels, her Oxford ambitions abandoned.

Many parents would be worried about the idea of their sixteen-year-old daughter being romanced by a thirty-something man, especially if his influence leads her to neglect her education, but Jenny's parents, especially her complacent, Philistine father, seem strangely unconcerned. His argument is that as Jenny has now found a wealthy suitor there will be no need for her to use Oxford as a dating agency. His one objection to David as a son-in-law seems to be that he is Jewish. (Anti-Semitism was unfortunately widespread in British society at this period). Yet it is obvious to the audience that there is a darker side to David's character. His business methods are, to say the least, not beyond reproach (the character may have been based upon the notorious slum landlord Peter Rachman) and he never takes Jenny to his home, always meeting her in a luxurious flat belonging to his friend and business partner Danny. Eventually, even Jenny herself begins to suspect that David is not all he seems.

The title "An Education" can be understood on two levels. As a coming-of-age drama it narrates Jenny's metaphorical "education" in the wider sense of learning lessons about life. Yet it obviously also deals with her education in the narrower, literal sense of the word. It raises similar issues to another great British film, "Educating Rita", namely whether it is formal academic education or informal education to be gained in the outside world which is the more valuable. Jenny drops out of school because she believes that she can better acquire knowledge, both of high culture and of the ways of the world, through her life with David than through academic study. (Jenny's vision of her future life envisages her living with David in Paris on the Rive Gauche, reading Sartre, smoking Gauloises and going to the cinema to see the latest productions of the Nouvelle Vague). It seems hard to blame her for this conclusion, given that in the film the main advocate of the life academic is her headmistress, an intellectual snob and virulent anti-Semite ("The Jews killed Our Lord!") who serves as a reminder that an educated mind is not necessarily an open one. It is only when she becomes disillusioned with David that Jenny starts to reassess her priorities.

Her performance in the lead role has led to Carey Mulligan being hailed as the "new Audrey Hepburn", although the main point of resemblance seems to be that at one point in the film Jenny sports (as many young women doubtless did in the early sixties) a Hepburn-style hairdo. Nevertheless, on the basis of this performance Mulligan would appear to be a highly promising star in the making, perhaps the new Keira Knightley. Although she is actually 24, she always seems entirely believable as a naive young teenager. Other good contributions come from Peter Sarsgaard as the smooth, reptilian David, Alfred Molina as Jenny's comical, blustering father, Rosamund Pike as Danny's airheaded mistress Helen and Emma Thompson in an excellent cameo as the obnoxious headmistress.

Period drama is something the British cinema often does well, and "An Education" falls within this tradition, even though it has a Danish director, Lone Scherfig. 2009 has already seen two good British costume dramas, "The Young Victoria" and "Dorian Gray", but "An Education" is an even better one. It is not only a study of a girl on the verge of womanhood, but also an exploration of issues such as social class, racism and the value of education. One of the best British films of recent years. I hope that the Academy will remember it when next year's Oscars are being handed out. 9/10