An Education

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An Education

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An Education

Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike, Dominic Cooper

A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.

Id: 11058376

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An Education Recent Reviews
  • moonrivers
    December 17, 2009
    moonrivers
    ah yeeesssss, what's it to be then, "the good life", fast and easy (it sure looks good in the movies!), or that oh-so-boring alternative with all that WORK (what in the dickens is THAT all about????)? the bbc alone makes attention to the little details (like a decent script) see...( read more)m droll (when in fact it's a riduculously precious commodity) and do so again here. a quiet and tough little film indeed with a well rounded cast hitting on all cylinders.
  • 366weirdmovies
    December 16, 2009
    366weirdmovies
    A 16-year old Oxford-bound schoolgirl falls in love with a worldly older man. Well-done, believable coming-of-age tale with excellent performances, realistic characterizations, and few surprises.
  • FangsFirst
    December 2, 2009
    FangsFirst
    I had two free passes to the local arthouse styled theatre that were running out Monday, so I decided to go see whatever the heck was showing. One film was House of the Devil, a throwback horror film that I truly loved, the other was a film that I thought sounded like the ...( read more)kind I might pick up on a whim (lo, it was released by Sony Pictures Classics, an arm of Sony I trust pretty blindly to do right by me)--this one. I knew the essence of the plot, but tried to keep my readings vague, so as to avoid spoiling any of it, this being my preference when I see any film. I knew only the name Peter Sarsgaard of the primary cast and had never heard of Danish director Lone Scherfig.

    Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is a 16 year old prep school student in 1961 Twickenham, London who plans to go to Oxford and then "become French," living in France, reading French literature, speaking French, eating French food, and smoking constantly. Her father Jack (Alfred Molina) discourages her from doing anything that does not further her education (barring those things which are appreciated by acceptance boards at Oxford), even things like playing her cello, which he notes will impress Oxford as a "hobby," but then continues need not be practiced as it is a "hobby." Her mother Majorie (Cara Seymour) tries to smooth things between them as Jenny tests her father's "rules," attempting to reason him into allowing her some ideas. Jenny has a fledgling romance with orchestra-mate Graham (Matthew Beard) until the poor boy makes the mistake of suggesting he might take a year off from school, which does not earn the respect of Jack. One rainy day after orchestra rehearsal, Jenny is approached from a car by a man who offers to at least shield her cello from the rain as she walks home by placing it in his car. Jenny's amused by the man's charm, and he introduces himself as David (Sarsgaard) and strikes up a conversation, eventually getting herself out of the rain alongside her cello in David's sportscar. Slowly taken with him and running into him periodically, Jenny begins to accept offers from David when he gives her the opportunity to experience the culture she so loves and admires--concerts, jazz bars, art auctions and so on. He introduces her to his friends Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike), and begins to take her further and further out into the world, all the while slowly romancing her. His charm works even on Jack and Majorie, allowing this to happen with their consent. A trip to Oxford pushes at Jenny's principles, but she finds herself torn between a small moral capitulation and the chance to have a "real life."

    Of course, once I saw the cast appear onscreen, I realized instantly that there was another name here I knew very well: Alfred Molina. In fact, this knowledge was humourous to me as I watched Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes and the segment with Molina and Steve Coogan showed, where the joke was how unknown Molina was--when the opposite was true for me. Of course, I also know the screenwriter, Nick Hornby, albeit primarily from the Americanized film version of High Fidelity. Still these were primarily passing knowledge, especially Hornsby and Sarsgaard. The synposis I read led me to expect something far more drastic was hiding behind these scenes than actually turned out, so I was surprised in this respect, and it probably helped to keep my understanding of the film "in line" with its intentions. It's worth noting here that it is an adaptation of journalist Lynn Barber's actual experiences, and that this often shores up some seemingly unusual choices.

    The most interesting role by far is that of David, as Sarsgaard is forced, as many have put it, to walk the line between charming and creepy. He is charming and does not come across as purely sleazy, despite being a 30-something man romancing a 16 year old girl, though I did spend half the movie with fingertips placed at my forehead in a sort of preliminary (or perhaps vestigial?) representation of the desire to hide the film from my eyes. I was hideously uncomfortable for a lot of it. I was perhaps too charmed by David myself, but could not shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong anyway. I'm a little more open-minded than most, I suppose, as I roll my eyes at those who called American Beauty a sick film about a pedophile, but I had great difficulty stopping myself from slumping down further and further into my seat and squirming at many moments (the scene involving pet names was particularly excruciating). I can't say it was a flaw, but it was a bit of a problem. I suppose I was really directed very perfectly into the place of Jenny herself, torn between the allure of an exciting life and the responsibility of the one that is hard and boring but theoretically the "best" choice. At the same time, there was a definite feeling that it was entirely too easy to see how she was deceived, and yet wish she wouldn't be. Jenny is not stupid, she is very clever in her interactions with everyone, but she's so thoroughly charmed by David that she's easily taken in by him, but especially because he brings her all the things she wants.

    The central concept is the variable defintion of "education," being either the worldly education offered by David or that of Oxford, with various tangential definitions, such as learning about life via the parts of David that were not showing originally. It's a valid argument that Jenny gives her Headmistress--that there is no one telling the students why, exactly, they must get an education--except to go on and use that dull, hard, boring education to live a dull, hard, boring life. It makes the choice of David seem obvious, yet, at the same time, we know (hopefully!) is not so simple as all of that. There's no good argument (at least none I've heard) against Jenny's, but at the same time there's an understanding, for me at least, that other paths are more difficult or simply aren't as good as they seem to be. It's nice that the film doesn't attempt to truly explain or answer this question, even if it does show Lynn Barber's actual decisions and life at the end, what she chooses to pursue and follow for her life. She admits that she has aged but not become experienced or wise because of the events she takes part in, which seems a good way of putting it.
  • smith44
    November 3, 2009
    smith44
    Carey Mulligan is a Sensation, this girl is the real dead, totally encompassing her role, creating a vividly luicd character. A lock for a nomination, perhaps even a winner. All told An Education is an excellent film, beautiful to watch, with great poigancy in its social commenta...( read more)ry and ulimate ending.
  • her69eyes
    October 31, 2009
    her69eyes
    When Carey Mulligan flips up her hair and goes out for a night on the town in "An Education", it's hard to not think of Audrey Hepburn. That praise has been sung by many of the world's top critics and cinephiles alike - potentially deadly hype for such a young actress, indeed. Bu...( read more)t Mulligan, only 22 when the film was shot, is fully deserving of her accolades. Last seen as glorified backdrop in "Pride & Prejudice" and "Public Enemies", Mulligan, with "An Education", bursts onto the scene with a performance that'll ensure her a long career to go along with a surefire Oscar nomination.

    Mulligan plays a 16-year-old English girl, Jenny, in director Lone Scherfig's highly celebrated new film. Like Wendy Hiller in 1945, she knows where she's going - her future, fully designed by her parents (Alfred Molina & Cara Seymour), entails attending Oxford University once she graduates private school. But that was before the maroon Bristol pulled up alongside her on one rainy afternoon.

    The driver is David (Peter Sarsgaard), a handsome middle-aged man with an abundance of charisma. Although twenty years her elder, he soon wins her trust - she's swept away by his confidence, his riches, his lack of restraint. David is so thoroughly likable, in fact, that he is able to talk Jenny's parents into allowing the two to go on a few holidays together. But, as things progress, Jenny begins to catch glimpses of the predatory side behind David's charming facade.

    As much praise as Mulligan has garnered, her performance wouldn't be nearly as effective without Peter Sarsgaard's support. Both performers have challenging parts, changing drastically throughout the picture, but yet both actors seem to have perfect control over where their relationship is at any given moment. Jenny and David are both full of contradictions - Jenny naive and wise, David delicate and reptilian, and yet neither character seems overwrought or contrived.

    Adapted by Nick Hornby from a short memoir by British journalist Lynn Barber, "An Education" is a pitch-perfect coming-of-age story. The wry humor in the dialogue and the exquisite camerawork contribute to a film that simply bursts at the seams with life. By the end of the film, I felt that Scherfig probably could've taken a few more risks with the material, but most can be forgiven in a film as delectable as this.
  • cuadratours
    December 16, 2009
    cuadratours
    para que vayamos al cine
  • SaxophoneScone
    December 15, 2009
    SaxophoneScone
    carey mulligan looks great!
  • lauralee10491
    December 15, 2009
    lauralee10491
    has a wonderful entriguing storyline,something i think others can learn from......
    seems as though all of us have reach that stage at some point in our lives,forced to make critical decisions......TO BE OR NOT TO BE!! THE FAMOUS QUESTION.....
  • godsrighthandman
    December 15, 2009
    godsrighthandman
    Great performances by Carey Mulligan and Alfred Molina can't rescue this story from its familiar trappings and predictable ending
  • juanchi119
    December 14, 2009
    juanchi119
    Too preachy for my taste.
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