An Education
Composite Score: 86.03
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams, Cara Seymour, Amanda Fairbank-Hynes, Ellie Kendrick, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, and Emma Thompson
Director: Lone Scherfig
Writer: Nick Hornby
Genres: Drama, Comedy, Romance, Coming of Age
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexual content, and for smoking
Box Office: $26.10 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
An Education is the film adaptation of journalist Lynn Barber’s memoir of the same name about her adolescent relationship with an older man in London in the early 1960s. The film stars Carey Mulligan in the leading role, here named Jenny, joined by Peter Sarsgaard as her suitor “David”, Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour as her parents, Olivia Williams as her inspirational English teacher Miss Stubbs, Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike as David’s friends/associates Danny and Helen, and Emma Thompson as the headmistress of Jenny’s school. The film uses Barber’s memoir as the basis for a more universal coming-of-age tale about girlhood, society, adulthood, and relationships between children and their parents. The film garnered three Oscar nominations – Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Lead Actress for Mulligan, and Best Picture.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
While I think that this film is meant more as a general warning against leaning too hard into the fantasies of childhood/adolescence/girlhood, there’s also a good bit of the film that can be taken as the ideal way for a young woman to come into her own. It recognizes the tragedy of the situations that Jenny goes through, but it focuses much more on the ways that it grew her and allowed her to overcome than on the consequences of her actions. While I do agree with the filmmakers (I think) and her parents and teacher that she was by no means at fault for any of the events that transpired, she very clearly did have to deal with some consequences that had to be worked through, and the film’s last act does its best to minimize those to the best of its ability. Romantic relationships between adults and teens are illegal for a reason, and it can’t hurt to do just a little bit more reminding of that fact when you’re making this coming-of-age story that centers around one. Obviously, she didn’t become pregnant or get kidnapped or pressed into a marriage or anything, but even just showing some of the extra work that she had to do to get back into the life that she wanted for herself could have gone a long way.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
On the flip side, An Education is a film that respects its audience and allows them to grow alongside Jenny, feeling her excitement over the potential for romance and genuine adult interaction, readying them and her for the inevitable end with hints here and there, and then reinforcing that inevitability with a strong conclusion that reinforces what the audience hopefully already knew coming in but might have been ready to abandon given the right story and that teaches Jenny her lesson without “ruining” her in the process. It’s a very pro-woman film, taking care to highlight the things Jenny learns about her fellow women and the lies that she also unlearns in the process. Its comments on class, money, and education aren’t necessarily the most groundbreaking, but they’re all presented in ways that feel unique in a coming-of-age film. For as negative or judgmental as this film could have been, I feel that it does a great job of celebrating the learning process of growing up without highlighting the terror of consequences (I know that contradicts what I said before, but just go with me here). Yes, generally, there should be some dissuasion of young women from entering into relationships with older men, particularly those with more money than them, about whom they know very little. At the same time, adolescence and growing up happens best when young people are allowed to ask questions and experience the world without their parents right by their sides, and this film does a great job of showcasing that aspect of life while still offering some insight into how parents can still be involved with their children as they grow into young adults.
On top of all that, Carey Mulligan really does give a phenomenal performance as Jenny. As a 24-year-old playing a teen, she brings the best of both worlds to the role, playing the flirtatious, immature, Francophile at the start of the film just as well as she plays the realized, world-wise young woman at the film’s close. She elevates every scene with an informed girlishness that constantly reminds the audience of her situation and of its precariousness, keeping the film’s more comedic scenes light while ensuring that the more serious scenes carry the weight that they need to. It’s a tragedy that this performance happened to coincide with Sandra Bullock’s career Oscar campaign for The Blind Side because I think she could otherwise have beaten out her fellow nominees for the Best Actress Oscar that year – and indeed she did beat them out for the BAFTA for Best Actress.
Between its artful, innovative, and unique coming-of-age story and the wonderful performance from Carey Mulligan, An Education more than earns its place among the Greatest Films of All Time. Some of its warnings might be too easily ignored, given how things unfold in the film, but its celebration of learning through doing and of young people being allowed to make mistakes more than makes up for that shortcoming. You can currently rent this film on most streaming services if you’d like to check it out in the coming days.
