Peter Sarsgaard and Carey Mulligan in An Education

“She is sixteen, going on seventeen; fellows will fall in line. Eager young lads and rogues and cads, will offer you food and wine.” If The Sound of Music had been released four years earlier then maybe Lynn Barber may have taken heed and her memoir, An Education, would never have been written.

It’s 1961 and Jenny is the sixteen year old, uber bright, studious heroine of the film. Her parents have spent money on effort grooming her for Oxford University and beyond. She is, however, full of dreams and they don’t necessarily involve a stuffy education in a time where women with a degree can only hope to become teachers or civil servants. She dreams of Paris and dancing and singing and romance and not having to conform to her Father’s plans for her.

Carey Mulligan in An Education

One rainy evening she meets a man who is keen to whisk her away from her deathly dull existence and show her what the world really has to offer.  David, the rapscallion of the piece, is well beyond the age where he should be trying to romance a schoolgirl and definitely falls into the rogues and cads category.  His seduction techniques are twee; romancing her with flowers, classical concerts, fine dining, wine, art, clothes, extravagant trips and presents.  If only young women knew that any man who can charm their parents aren’t worth giving anything to, let alone their virginity...

This film is quintessentially English and its characters are stereotypes - far from boring and clichéd, the film probably does reflect a different time quite accurately.  Jenny is played by relative newcomer Carey Mulligan and although in her twenties she manages to portray the emotions and mannerisms of a sixteen year old girl perfectly.  She and Peter Saarsgard, who plays David, are the glue that hold the film together and ensure it is as good as it is.  The supporting actors should not be overlooked though as the Dad, Alfred Molina, and her teacher, played by Olivia Williams, are also brilliant.  It is Rosamund Pike’s Helen that really shines as the startlingly beautiful but also shockingly dim girlfriend of David’s business partner.

Nick Hornby’s adaptation is suitably sympathetic to the fact that this film could easily have been very awkward to watch with the subject matter being the tale of a girl being seduced by a borderline paedophilia with a sketchy past.  It flows easily and you wouldn’t be embarrassed to take your Mum and Dad, or maybe even your Nan, to watch it.  As the story unfolds there are no unexpected twists and turns and the end outcome is what you’re hoping for.  An Education sways a little bit towards being more for a female audience yet this is a brilliant British drama and may well be the start of an illustrious career for Carey Mulligan.

An Education is showing at Broadway until Thursday 7 January

An Education website

 

 

An Education

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