Movie Review: An Education

An Education is a film completely and inexorably transported on the wings of a star-making performance from Carey Mulligan. The unparalleled grace and consistency that Mulligan brings to the role of Jenny is remarkable. She taps into the nuances and unwavering emotions of a 16-year old girl growing up in the 1960's, accomplishing it in a style reminiscent of the great Audrey Hepburn. With this kind of performance anchoring the core of the film, director Lone Scherfig and screenwriter Nick Hornby weave an elegant adaptation of the Lynn Barber memoir. Hornby's exquisite use of language to capture the development of relationships is essential to deciphering the subtle undercurrents at play in this film. An Education is not simply about Jenny's assiduous fascination with English Literature and World History, but rather her natural proclivities engaged toward the development of an intellectual lifestyle. The film serves as a commentary on the birth of modern feminism. It presents not only an England teetering on the edge of social progression, but also a girl, enervated by her romantic infatuation, who rises above her personal hardship to become a real woman. And in that sense, An Education teaches us a lesson worth remembering.

There are three relationships that Jenny has in this film, which are pivotal to understanding the maturation of her character. The first is the relationship she has with her parents. Jenny's parents in this film are meant to represent the bourgeois mentality that young teenagers were rebelling against in the early 1960's. Her father is a whale of a man; thunderously proclaiming the value of an Oxford education while championing the significance of accumulating professional connections. To watch Alfred Molina bellow throughout the course of the film is compelling to say the least. His performance is rich and evocative of a more conservative time in British history. Hornby's sharp dialogue between father and daughter guides Molina's performance throughout the film; the screenplay allows for him to offer an ingenious piece of comedic timing while also incorporating serious dramatic elements into the role of the nurturing parent. Scherfig's use of the mise-en-scene is minimal in these scenes, photographing the house with lots of dark, gray colors as if to say it hinders Jenny's exposure to the real world. Yet towards the end of the film, Scherfig's use of the close-up illustrates how Jenny's relationship with her parents is the most loving and the most authentic she has. Molina's speech outside the door is heartbreaking to listen to but certainly hits the right note in terms of tone and clarity. Jenny's parents might not be the most liberal of people, but in the end they are the most dependable because they truly want what is best for their daughter.

The second relationship involves David, who is Jenny's new boyfriend. David (played by Peter Sarsgaard) is the consummation of Jenny's deepest fantasies and serves as the antithesis to the bourgeois mentality. David is handsome, charming, funny, witty, and most importantly, older than Jenny. The latter fact is the one piece of information that discredits all of the more nobler qualities Jenny sees in David. And it is in this fact that Hornby's script is able to become more complex and profound. We can see the connection that Jenny has with David through Hornby's sparkling dialogue and the way in which Mulligan and Saarsgard feed off one another throughout. Granted I think Sarsgaard is the weak link in the film, exhibiting more creepiness than charm in his relationship with Mulligan. However, his performance is tolerable because it is augmented by the strength of Mulligan's performance. The way that Mulligan glistens and smiles whenever she's with Sarsgaard enhances the believability of the romance. We feel for her, and in turn, we feel for Sarsgaard as well. The romance is also complemented by Scherfig's colorful depiction of the luxurious apartment houses and fancy dinner parties where David woos Jenny; we see the silent pleasure attained by Jenny in listening to dynamic French music and speaking French to her contemporaries. All of these things play into Jenny's grand ideal of life and love, which is exactly what Scherfig wants us to see. Scherfig does a great job at illustrating the fantastical elements of it all, which include whirlwind shots of Paris and facial close-ups that showcase the blossoming love between Jenny and David. Scherfig and Hornby deceive the audience in a way that allows us to believe in the purity of the romance. This makes the ending of the film, while predictable, all the more affecting and worthwhile.

The final relationship is between Jenny and her teacher, Miss Stubbs (played by Olivia Williams). While these scenes are very limited, they are also very revealing of Jenny's personality. The earlier parts of the film show us a person who is clearly intelligent and who has the potential for a bright future. Yet her encounters with David show us someone who is very naive and very uninformed about the world. Jenny sacrifices all her potential for the sake of a man and very nearly loses everything. The power of this film lies in the fact that Jenny refuses to become a victim. She values her relationship with David as a continuing part of her education. She recants her notion of teachers as boring and bereft of life to move past her romantic entanglements and become a smarter person. The scenes between Mulligan and Williams are simple and straightforward. Yet they are intriguing because Jenny and Miss Stubbs are very similar characters with very similar passions. In the end, Jenny could be considered the future Miss Stubbs and much much more. In the end, she is no longer a girl but rather a free-thinking, independent woman.

And therein lies the lesson we can take from An Education, a fairly simple lesson that is unwittingly repeated in many films these days. We are imperfect creatures strolling with trepidation on a journey that frightens us to no end. And we yearn for guidance and consolation from outside sources because of a need to feel appreciated. The point of An Education is that we should trust the love of those closest to us because without that love, we cannot possibly learn from our experiences nor shed the pain of a broken heart. The spirit of the film lies in its protagonist's ability to overcome the odds. As a result, An Education is cinema where you can stand and cheer not just for the triumphs of Jenny, but also for the birth of a new starlet in Hollywood.

Lenny's Grade: A-