| AN EDUCATION |
| Written by Sian Rafferty |
| Thursday, 16 July 2009 13:52 |
 'An Education' is one of those classic films, in which you see members of every spectrum of society shuffle into the Civic on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. You have the old couples who are looking for a spot of culture with their tea and scones... The coffee-club crowd of mums trying something other than Esquires in Newmarket, jostling through a crowd of hipsters dressed in their pea-coats and Doc-Martens. Yet the one thing which unites them all, is the high hum of anticipation as everyone eagerly waits outside for the promised film to begin. I am pleased to say that everyone in this particular crowd, emerged with the pleasant taste of content on their tongues. 'An Education' proved to be every bit as delightful, as the hearsay said it would be. Adapted from the memoirs of journalist Lynn Barber; 'An Education' is a coming of age story centred on a middle-class, London school-girl, Jenny (Carey Mulligan). Jenny starts off as a smart and aspiring young lady who is preparing for Oxford University and a bright future. Enter David, a wealthy playboy twice her age. Suddenly, Jenny is offered the life she has always wanted... minus all the work to get there.  Adapted by Nick Hornby, the script is sharp and witty; really questioning the idea of the liberation of women in the sixties. Yes women can do anything men can, but what if the easy answer to everything a woman wants; is... a man? As Jenny struggles with this question she seemingly receives an education in the school of high-life, yet inadvertently receives a dollop of real life, along with all the glamour. Carey Mulligan really shines as Jenny. She is both enchanting and educated, leaving no doubt that this sixteen year old could bewitch a man twice her age. Yet at the same time she is still a naive little girl, who believes in romance and randomly spouts phrases in French... longing to break free of her bourgeois lifestyle and live as an artist in a Parisian jazz club. She presents a realistic portrayal of that time in every girls’ life, when reality is sharpening its blades as we try and cling to our romantic visions of the future.  Casting Peter Sarsgaard as David; the older gentleman, is a refreshing change from his position as the perpetual supporting man. He plays one smooth bloke, educated to the tee in the school of life. More than once in the movie, the men sitting behind me exclaimed; "Oldest trick in the book..." and "Too smooth"... Yet the women around me, uttered a collective sigh as he said all the right things, in all the right places. Seeing Alfred Molina playing Jenny's middle-class father, was also a clever and unexpected move. His portrayed of a befuddled father trying to understand his daughter, is definitely one to be remembered. His best lines are centred on his attempts to convince Jenny he is right, yet at the continual expense of any rational reasoning.  Other cast members like British It-People of the moment; Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike, as David's socialite friends and the odd cameo from Emma Thompson, really added an air of glamour to the sixties set. Indeed the costuming and set design, also deserve special mention for their invocation of a middle-class reality all mixed up with high-class dreams. 'An Education' really is one of those well rounded movies, which appeals to every generation and gender. It's girly but not chick-flicky. Dramatic, but still brings out cracking smiles on an audience's delighted faces. A cheery education in the hard facts of life... but also the reasons we keep on fighting.  |
