Film and TV

Out on DVD: An Education (12)

By Anna Roberts
February 17, 2010

Stars Peter Sarsgaard, Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike, Dominic Cooper

Sometimes a film comes along that is so wonderful, so moving and so enjoyable you immediately recommend it to all your friends.

An Education, nominated in the Best Picture category of the Academy Awards, is one such film.

Starring newcomer Carey Mulligan as Jenny, it’s a coming of age tale based on – not exactly a book, but a chapter of Lynn Barber’s autobiography.

Irrespective of what you think of Barber, An Education, which also features Peter Sarsgaard, Rosamund Pike and Dominic Cooper, is rather extraordinary.

It is a British film which Britain should be proud of – even though Yank Sarsgaard plays Peter, the main male lead.

Only child Jenny (Mulligan, pictured), living with her parents on the outskirts of London, is destined for Oxford.

Pretty, popular and intelligent, she has high expectations for herself – and other people have weighty aspirations for her too.

But she believes her life to be rather ordinary and dour, a boring monotony of schoolwork and friends.

That is until she meets older man Peter who picks her up in his car as she waits at a bus stop.

He immediately adds sparkle to her life by introducing her to his exciting friends and taking her on exotic daytrips. They visit Paris, the races and the opera – for Jenny life has become one exhilarating whirl.

But life has a way of turning on you when things get too good and Jenny is at risk of learning this the hardest way.

Mulligan, currently flavour of the month and a leading actress nominee at the Oscars, is wonderful in her breakthrough role as the sometimes likeable, sometimes not Jenny.

There is something enchanting about her as the doe-eyed, Lolita-ish Jenny and it is easy to see why

Peter was drawn to her and wanted to seduce her.

Similarly, Peter is rather dashing and sexy – but also incredibly flawed, unlike Sarsgaard’s British accent which is commendable considering he only appears to have previously acted in American horror films.

Set in the 1960s, one of the great things about An Education is its style and fashion. The girls wear such wonderful clothes and their hair and make-up is brilliant – it almost makes the viewer want to whip out their eyeliner, draw on some cat’s eyes and embrace all things swinging.

But before you beehive your hair, make sure you take the time to watch – and love – An Education.

| Submit Comments