SummaryIn the post-war, pre-Beatles London suburbs, a bright schoolgirl is torn between studying for a place at Oxford and the more exciting alternative offered to her by a
charismatic older man. (Sony Pictures Classics)
SummaryIn the post-war, pre-Beatles London suburbs, a bright schoolgirl is torn between studying for a place at Oxford and the more exciting alternative offered to her by a
charismatic older man. (Sony Pictures Classics)
The combination of a literate script, an adroit cast and an economical style is simple addition that achieves an alchemical feat: the best film of the year.
An Education captures the very limited possibilities for female liberation in early-'60s London -- with massive social change on the distant horizon, but not here yet -- in exquisite detail.
An Education is one of the greatest films ever made, with incredible performances (Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike), a beautiful color palette and a great message. Beyond words.
An Education is a nice coming-of-age tale with an important message that may resonant with a lot of young people. And it sports an impressive cast and a star-making performance from Carey Mulligan. 4/4 stars.
Technical elements are among the best this year. Photography, editing, music, production design, and costumes all add seamless period flavor to the puritanical stew that was London almost a half-century ago.
In the end, this is more a character study of Jenny than a tale of tortured love, and a reminder that any education worth having comes with its share of trauma.
Best of all, An Education isn’t alarmist. It knows other people can’t seduce us if we don’t seduce ourselves first and that Jenny is level-headed enough to handle it and learn.
Lone Scherfig directs it all as if it were a breezy lark, so a third-act tonal shift makes for an incongruous, excessively moralistic fit with everything that’s preceded. Most insulting, though, is the way in which the climactic passages miraculously tidy up every frayed edge of Jenny’s life.
An Education is a great movie. Carey Mulligan could be the next Natalie Portman. It's one of the best British films ever made. I loved it. Be sure to see it.
Situado en una época de cambios bruscos, es una excelente reflexión sobre las decisiones, para bien o para mal, que todos tomamos alguna vez en la vida. El drama, así como las actuaciones, no dejan de ser atractivos.
There probably aren't enough words to outline how beautiful, enjoyable, emotionally driven and often humorous the fantastic An Education is,but lets try anyway.
Taking place in 1962, we meet Jenny, a 16 year-old schoolgirl, played very convincingly and warming by Carey Mulligan, we see Jenny being swept off her feet by the mysterious and confident David, (played by Peter Sarsgaard), in a time when an Oxford education is sought after, but a wealthy husband will do just fine.
Jenny is introduced to a world alive and full of colour when she is in David's company, joined by his friends Helen (Rosamund Pike) and Danny (Dominic Cooper), they embark on a journey throughout the lives of free-spirited individuals, concerts, late night suppers, trips throughout the country and beyond. The film really outlines just how different life was in 1960s Britain, it was perhaps more acceptable for the events that unfold in the film, but with such a sunny outlook there are of course clouds in the distance.
As common sense would go, its natural for people to be concerned about the blossoming relationship, simply for how much brighter the other path seems, its a difficult and thoughtful concept of educational needs over living life through your own accordance.
Peter Sarsgaard puts in a fantastic performance as the classy and forthright David, someone who gets what he wants, and knows just what to say, but without ever seeming deceiving or over-bearing about it. Sarsgaard perfectly captures someone who easily sways those around him to live life in the fast lane.
Mulligan puts a superb performance in as the smart, witty and beautiful schoolgirl Jenny, a girl who loves to think for herself, but rarely sees a life outside of her books and overbearing yet kind-hearted father (Alfred Molina).
The era that the film is set in is perfectly handled by the superb writing and wonderfully acted gem of a film, that never tries to aim too high above what story it is telling, it never claims to be something it isn't.
While the ending was a little weak and too expected after the last half hour, this is a wonderful film that takes a risky subject but in a way opens up the eyes of the younger generation to all sorts of opportunities, outlining that not everything is black and white.
The major failing of this film is that for much of its duration, the film is dominated by unsympathetic characters. Carey Mulligan's Jenny begins a precocious show-off that simply doesn't do enough to win the audience over in the first act to make us care about her undoing in the second. Peter Sarsgaard's David has too much screen-time with no purpose other than to reinforce his unwholesome motivations which, unfortunately, are screamingly obvious from the outset. The films soul lies with the Jenny's father and teacher (Alfred Molina and Olivia Williams on excellent form) -- underused characters the resolution of whose plotlines serve to make the film's final quarter of an hour by far its most entertaining. **** film.
The underused Olivia Williams and Alfred Molina are
Having missed this in theaters was glad to see it on Netflix instant - anticipated an excellent film. Boy was I disappointed and weirded out. The premise is absurd - older guy semi-stalks 16 yr old and then gets her parents' permission to not only date her but etc. So on that level quite pervy and bizarre. Add to that the older guy is "a Jew" who is rather shady on several levels, and his Jewishness is made a central theme. So we have a pervy older Jew corrupting a beautiful young thing with her parents' blissful encouragement. Please - this is supposed to be charming? It's perverse. Yuch.