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AN EDUCATION |
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Can a film be and its actors be so good that we ignore the social depravity of the story? That is exactly what we encounter with the film "An Education" by Danish director Lone Scherfig. We get performances so
crisp and a story so intelligent we ignore the underlining immorality. Carey Mulligan is Jenny, a 16-year old British senior preparing for
college. She is the brightest student in her class and hoping to attend Oxford University. Of course her teacher loves her and along with her parents is pushing her in the direction of Oxford as a more
favorable environment over Cambridge. |
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Jenny's father Jack (Alfred Molina) is all over
her to perform well so that she can get into Oxford. He is overbearing at times, but makes it clear
he wants her to have a good life even if it means acing Latin. Her mother Marjorie (Cara Seymour) is pretty much in the background.
She neither encourages or discourages her daughter allowing the dad to make decisions. The family is far from wealthy and Jack is even reluctant to go out save to go to work. Jack does take great pleasure in rebuffing teenage suitors -
specifically on 17-year old who is quite clumsy but smitten with Jenny. Jack loves to make
him feel small and worthless. One day a man named David (Peter Sarsgaard) offers
Jenny a ride to get out of the rain. It is clear he is familiar with her, though he blames his
interest on protecting her cello. She accepts the ride and soon they start dating. |
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David is considerably older than Jenny.
He also seems to be a man of means though those means may be ill-gotten. He introduces
her to his running buddies Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike) as well as a more sophisticated
lifestyle of museums, galleries and parties. Suddenly Jenny is living the life of an adult. The change of lifestyle is approved by her now open minded father as she cavorts
at all hours of the night and even goes to Paris with David. This, despite her knowledge of David swiping a painting from an open house. The only voices of reason are from her teacher and the schoolmaster (Emma Thompson) who feels Jenny is throwing her live away. |
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But what is odd is her fathers total acceptance of this older
man's courtship of his under-aged daughter. Is he intimidated by David? It almost seems that way as he never
challenges David like he does the younger boys. "An Education" is a wonderfully acted well produced film that never brings to mind the questions of morality. Unlike "American Beauty" where Kevin Spacey's character is rapt with his daughters under-aged best
friend and the lines of morality are questioned and answered - "An Education" dismisses the notion. Is it
because we consider it European and therefore okay? Mulligan is brilliant as the naive little girl heading down a path of certain doom. As a viewer when will you question the morality? Or will you be caught up in the acting and the story to say that it's just wrong? --GEOFFREY BURTON
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