In 'An Education' one girl gets lessons of a lifetime
Happily one of the best films shown at the recent Cine-World Film Festival, "An Education," has returned to charm and seduce more audiences with its plucky heroine and her hard-earned education in the school of life.
Using as his basis a memoir by British journalist Lynn Barber, novelist-turned-screenwriter Nick Hornby ("About A Boy," "High Fidelity") fashions a droll coming-of-age tale. Danish director Lone Scherfig, who made the restrained dramedies, "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" and "Italian for Beginners," has a light touch; with the help of a talented cast that includes a breakout performance by British actress Carey Mulligan, we get one of the best and most tenderly entertaining films of the year.
It’s sleepy London, 1961, before the Beatles and the Swinging Sixties started. Jenny (Mulligan), a sheltered suburban 16-year-old schoolgirl who plays the cello and has dreams of going to Oxford, lets an older man, 35-year-old David (Peter Sarsgaard), give her cello a ride in his car when she’s stranded in the rain. The next day, he’s asking her parents, Jack (Alfred Molina, "Spiderman 2") and Marjorie (Cara Seymour, "The Savages") if Jenny can go to dinner and a classical music concert with him and his aunt. And, he convinces them to let her go!
Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard star in "An Education," another Sundance Film Festival champion.
But the situation is not quite as he had presented it to be. His "aunt" turns out to be handsome business associate Danny (Dominic Cooper, "Mamma Mia") and his gorgeous if ditzy girlfriend Helen (Rosamund Pike, "Die Another Day"). Jenny becomes swept away with this and subsequent grown-up outings and secret trips with the smooth-talking David and his sophisticated friends.
As things progress, only her teacher, Miss Stubbs (Olivia Williams, "Rushmore"), and later the school headmistress (the great Emma Thompson) caution Jenny not to give up her studies and her dreams.
The most amazing discovery of the film is actress Carey Mulligan, who brings a natural, Audrey Hepburn-type beauty and a breeziness, courage and profound grace to Jenny even as the character faces disaster and disappointment in life, in David and especially in her parents.
Masterpiece Theater fans will recognize her from the recent BBC productions of "Pride and Prejudice," "Northanger Abbey," "Mrs. Marple: The Sitterford Mystery" and "Bleak House." It’s also hard to realize that she’s been acting professionally only since 2005.
Peter Sarsgaard ("Kinsey," "Shattered Glass") continues to shine with his finely shaded performance here as a first-class rake. Director Scherfig gets wonderful performances from the rest of the supporting cast mentioned above, including Sally Hawkins ("Happy Go Lucky").
"An Education" also provides a profound look at the effects of class and status restrictions, the role of bourgeois aspirations and the perceived freedom of those living full and creative lives outside the margins of society. It’s one of those captivating, must-see films of the fall.