An Education

An Education gives us a glimpse of England through the eyes of artists who, to be honest, didn't really grab my attention. The film portrays a slice of life, but after an intriguing start, it quickly loses momentum and gets pretty boring. What keeps it afloat are the performances and the charm of Paris. (05/03/2012)

One of a category of films that tell the story of the clash of two characters from de facto different worlds or backgrounds, and that follow the gradual "awakening" of the more conservative half to a kind of social revolt and liberation of spirit. There are, of course, many similar works on the subject of whether to sacrifice education and a bourgeois orientation for the sake of animalistic love and passion. Britain's An Education doesn't come up with anything new in this regard, and the viewer is able to observe the main character's slight doubts, her need to justify to the authorities the way of life she has chosen, and why she can no longer be part of "the right thing". I won't say too much about the ending, I just think that the filmmakers wanted to surprise (and maybe even slightly shock), whereas they unfortunately did not refrain from a few logical inaccuracies. But the overall impression is good (hence the three stars), the visuals are very good, and Carey Mulligan is adorable. :)) It's actually such a seemingly deep story with a hell of a shallow payoff. (21/08/2012)

A ruthless feminist romance where all the men are wimps and manipulators. Interestingly, it follows the standard romance scheme until the last fifteen minutes, which would be cool to communicate here graphically, but I'll have to make do with my legendary powers of expression. Imagine a graph that maps 10 points vertically and 8 horizontally. The vertical represents the protagonist's state of mind (the higher the score, the better); the horizontal represents the progression of the plot. Let's call point number one the Status Quo (value 3), where both characters are still unaware of each other, their lives intertwining, yet missing something. Probably love. Point two we'll call Encounter (value 4), followed by point three, with a value of 6, namely Enchantment. Point 4 falls under the category of Happy Experiences Together Against All Odds. This now has a value of 8, and is mostly a montage of picnics and the shared activities of the protagonists, despite the jealous and the uptight. Item 5 is the top on the vertical scale (10) and is First Sex/Paris/True Confessions, etc. And then comes the twist, i.e., the Disaster/Messup, which drops our vertical line down to number 1, from which then comes horizontal point 7, Running/Reconciliation (a value of 5), and then the last point 8, Reconciliation and New Beginnings, which also has a value of 8, but not higher, because the stigma of point 6 will be forever present and the characters are wiser/jaded, so their relationship will no longer have the drive it did in its beginnings. An Education taps into this formula after point 6 when there is not Running but actually Escape, so point 8 doesn’t represent Reconciliation but only Resignation, a departure from romance in general at the expense of education and the future, plus a bit of healthy sexism. As a result, the last point of the film never gets above a midpoint of 5, but the heroine becomes much more satisfied with herself. Otherwise, Carey Mulligan with her long man fingers, throaty laugh, and mega-dimples is a great combination of the be careful/be fascinated girl. (21/09/2013)

The story of a young girl who discovers what is really important in her life. Or maybe she doesn't find out, but thinks she has found out at the end of the film, even though anything can follow. Excellent performances by the actors, where they fit together wonderfully, but surprisingly, Alfred Molina impressed me the most, as he can knock you out with just one scene. (08/06/2016)

An Education is a very decently filmed and excellently acted movie, but with a plot that ends where a truly memorable film would just be getting started. For example, Fish Tank uses a similar premise as just one of the multiple elements of a more complex and more emotionally rich and thought-provoking narrative. (31/03/2010)