An Education

It's back to the chalkboard, circa 1961. Raising her hand, Kimberly Gadette asks: does An Education teach us anything new?

Though we're told that the film is set in Twickenham, 1961, the heroine seems to belong to a slightly earlier time. Think the early '50s, when two young women waltzed across the screen playing young, dark-haired naifs who blossomed under the tutelage of older men. Both Leslie Caron (Gigi, Lili, Daddy Long Legs, An American in Paris) and Audrey Hepburn (Sabrina, My Fair Lady) spring to mind as we observe Carey Mulligan, whose 16-year-old Jenny holds as much sway as her earlier counterparts -- but without the benefit of Technicolor, snappy choreography or leading male box office stars. Brava, Ms. Mulligan.

But Jenny's story is no '50s musical and, as we quickly glean, the learning curve is steep. And not just for Jenny. We are educated right along with her, students who learn anew about the challenging limitations for women in a pre-affirmative action society, where female college graduates might find steady employment as nurses, teachers and, if they worked their female tails off, headmistresses. Where the only reason a father breaks his back to send his daughter to Oxford is in the hopes that she might snag a higher economic class of husband.

But change was right around the corner. Though the Pill had been approved by the FDA by 1960, it hadn't caught cultural fire. Sexual, drug, political and music revolutions were on the cusp … intuited but not yet exercised.

And standing at the gaping doorway to the swinging sixties, we have Jenny, a brilliant young girl hungry to sample as much life as possible. Who feels suffocated by her anxious father and passive mother, the three of them roosting in their small suburban home. During a sudden downpour, when an older, charming stranger in a maroon Bristol roadster offers to give Jenny's cello a ride home (he invites her to trot alongside the car if she'd rather not accept a ride from a stranger) her provincial world melts away. In an ensuing scene in a nightclub with this new man, the music blares, insistent with a hot driving beat. The female vocalist echoes Jenny's thoughts, singing "You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger."

An Education is a beautifully realized piece of filmmaking, from the smart Nick Hornby script, Lone Scherfig's confident, subtle direction, the marvelous ensemble of players, as well as the very texture of the film itself. We're right there in that smoky jazz spot with Jenny, feeling her heart race when she sees a man and woman kiss, knowing it's a prelude to her own sexual pleasure. Contrasting worlds play beautifully: her moneyed suitor, the much older David (Peter Sarsgaard) takes her out for a night on the town – and then, Cinderella-like, she must peel off her sleek sheath, replacing it with her gray prep school uniform before trudging back to class the next morning.

When she questions the value of her schooling, her arguments aren't flippant: it seems understandable that a teenage schoolgirl, flush with champagne and caviar, seduced by shiny new worlds, would question the benefit of a dead-end education.

Representing the dead end, we have Alfred Molina as Jenny's stern father, a civil servant who's been saving money since Jenny's infancy in order to send her to Oxford. In lesser hands, the father could have been a buffoon – but the excellent Molina makes us laugh and then, quite suddenly, breaks our hearts. Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike portray David's hedonistic friends, a couple who dare not look at each other too closely, and never in the sober light of day. Pike is a particular wonder as a femme whose worldly knowledge begins and ends with her clothes closet – anything resembling intellectual fact reduces her to a slack-jawed, bovine stare.

Though he first seems like Mr. Perfect (plus a few decades of wear), Sarsgaard's David hints at an unease that grows more concerning. Yet the actor paints him with such vulnerability that, along with Jenny, we appreciate him as long as we can.

But this film is carried on the slender shoulders of Mulligan, who matures before our eyes. A sweet giggly teenager evolves, quickly at first, turning on her family and teachers with a sharp tongue, thinking she knows better. Her edges eventually soften as she develops into a vibrant young woman, strong and resolute, able to confront her lover with a power that leaves him quaking in her shadow. The 22-year-old actress captures both the child and the woman, creating an indelible performance that we won't easily forget.

This is the kind of education that both enlightens and enthralls. A must-see assignment.

Rating on a scale of 5 teacher's pets: 4

Release date: UK= 30 October 2009
Directed by: Lone Scherfig
Screenplay by: Nick Hornby
Adapted from a memoir by: Lynn Barber
Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, Cara Seymour, Olivia Williams, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Matthew Beard, Emma Thompson, Sally Hawkins
Rating: US = PG-13; UK = 12A
Running time: 99 minutes