"I feel old, but not very wise."- Jenny
London, 1961. To Jenny Mellor (Carey Mulligan), the whole country is bored. She wants to do what she wants, but is struggling to do so with her parents, in particular her father Jack (Alfred Molina), being so controlling. The opportunity for Jenny to break away from her mundane life arrives in the form of the charming David Goldman (Peter Sarsgaard). With David, Jenny starts to live her ideal lifestyle. But will she realise how important an education can be, before she throws it all away? Receiving three Academy Award nominations, An Education is an emotional tale that is made all the more powerful through its fantastic performances, and helped to bring the talents of actress Carey Mulligan into the limelight. Mulligan is an actress that many, including myself, consider to be one of the finest of her generation. On the back of a film like An Education, it's not hard to see why.
It's hard not to talk about An Education without of course mentioning the performances. I hadn't seen much of the cast's previous work before watching the film, but I admired the performances in those films and in An Education. I was only really familiar with Alfred Molina in the blockbuster films Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Spiderman 2 (2004), so to see him in a film focused more on drama and realism was nice. His character Jack provides much of the drama when present, with his attitudes towards education and his overly protective nature being the cause of Jenny's desire to strive for what she wants in life. However, he is also a sympathetic character, with Molina's best moment coming towards the end, when he speaks to Jenny from outside her room. Avoiding any major spoilers, he talks to her about the way David wasn't who she said he was, and it's this moment that shows how much he cares about his daughter: "All my life I've been scared, and I didn't want you to be scared". Peter Sarsgaard as David is also good, providing a well acted balance of charm and deviousness. As the film progresses it becomes clearer that he isn't as charming as Jenny first saw, with his work seeming to take priority over allowing Jenny to spend time with him. He is a difficult character to read, and so the intrigue is there to find out what exactly he is hiding from Jenny. Although the supporting cast are strong, Mulligan's performance as Jenny cannot be topped. Not only delivering the dialogue with strong wit and charm, but by conveying so many emotions through her facial expressions. In one particular scene, she perfectly portrays the shock and delight of a marriage proposal from David, and is conflicted as to weather to accept or not. Mulligan allows the scene to garner enough tension, before simply asking David to take her home. It is Mulligan's calm delivery that makes a simple line such as "take me home" give the film more emotional investment in her character, and is totally deserving of her Academy Award nomination.
Mulligan's portrayal of Jenny is aided by strong writing, developing her character as she learns more about David and moves closer to living the way she wants. There is plenty of teen angst, and so she does make mistakes and lets her emotions rule in place of thought. She is bright, but is still unsure over the importance of an education. In one scene, she meets with the headmistress (Emma Thompson) to discuss her plans to go to Paris and lose her virginity to David. Here, Jenny vents her frustrations at how boring her life would be were she to stay in education, with her being on the cusp of escaping from all her problems with David. It is moments like these where the audience can relate to Jenny, with the writing presenting her as someone with the troubles teenagers face, rather than have her be the bright student with absolutely no problems whatsoever. There is some nice cinematography too, especially during the Paris scenes. It compliments the nature of the scenes very well, as Jenny has always wanted to go to Paris, and so we see the city at its most beautiful, and the camera is always focused on Jenny as she explores. Director Lone Scherfig further creates a blissful atmosphere with his placement of Jenny and David within these scenes, with one shot having them surrounded by the city whilst overlooking a river, making a picturesque moment and the perfect shot to demonstrate Jenny's happiness.
An Education is a delightful film. It's well acted with emotional investment in the characters, aided by good writing, direction and cinematography. Although the ending is slightly rushed, the events beforehand provide a satisfactory culmination of the romance and Jenny's attitude towards education. Above all, we can thank An Education for introducing Carey Mulligan to wider audiences, and her performance as Jenny will stand as testament to her abilities as an actress for years to come.
Pros:
+ Star-making performance by Carey Mulligan.
+ Emotional investment in all the characters.
+ Cinematography that compliments the story very well.
Cons:
- Rushed ending, although ultimately satisfying with how the characters end up, it all seems to happen too fast after the conflicts are resolved.
Mulligan's portrayal of Jenny is aided by strong writing, developing her character as she learns more about David and moves closer to living the way she wants. There is plenty of teen angst, and so she does make mistakes and lets her emotions rule in place of thought. She is bright, but is still unsure over the importance of an education. In one scene, she meets with the headmistress (Emma Thompson) to discuss her plans to go to Paris and lose her virginity to David. Here, Jenny vents her frustrations at how boring her life would be were she to stay in education, with her being on the cusp of escaping from all her problems with David. It is moments like these where the audience can relate to Jenny, with the writing presenting her as someone with the troubles teenagers face, rather than have her be the bright student with absolutely no problems whatsoever. There is some nice cinematography too, especially during the Paris scenes. It compliments the nature of the scenes very well, as Jenny has always wanted to go to Paris, and so we see the city at its most beautiful, and the camera is always focused on Jenny as she explores. Director Lone Scherfig further creates a blissful atmosphere with his placement of Jenny and David within these scenes, with one shot having them surrounded by the city whilst overlooking a river, making a picturesque moment and the perfect shot to demonstrate Jenny's happiness.An Education is a delightful film. It's well acted with emotional investment in the characters, aided by good writing, direction and cinematography. Although the ending is slightly rushed, the events beforehand provide a satisfactory culmination of the romance and Jenny's attitude towards education. Above all, we can thank An Education for introducing Carey Mulligan to wider audiences, and her performance as Jenny will stand as testament to her abilities as an actress for years to come.
Pros:
+ Star-making performance by Carey Mulligan.
+ Emotional investment in all the characters.
+ Cinematography that compliments the story very well.
Cons:
- Rushed ending, although ultimately satisfying with how the characters end up, it all seems to happen too fast after the conflicts are resolved.
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