Having watched 'An Education' yet again last night I thought I'd post some thoughts about it here. Since I find Carey Mulligan completely enchanting at the moment. I unwillingly give away spoilers, so don't read if you don't want to know what happens, although the film itself isn't entirely subtle!
I think what resonates with me in 'An Education' is that feeling that we have all at some point in our lives been Jenny - who didn't have that time in their life where they slipped a foreign language into their vocabulary, listened to obscure music, smoked cigarettes and said evocative statements hoping that with all that came sophistication, respect, worldliness and a provocative reaction. 'An Education' is a film as much about carving your place in the world as it is about the relationship that schoolgirl Jenny and the much older David share. Perhaps it is this identification with Jenny's position that allows for Jenny's mother to be just as equally dazzled by David's charms as Jenny is, and appears happy for Jenny as opposed to expressing worry. After all, what young girl wouldn't fall for armfuls of gifts, bouquets on the doorstep and trips to Paris?! Based on the memoirs of journalist Lynn Barber of the same name; it is the fact that 'An Education' is a real story that detracts from the ending as the film pertains to the same culmination as the book. At first you are somewhat underwhelmed following the passion and fervour Jenny possessed when addressing her teachers; that she didn't want her life to be 'boring' nor filled with little more than 'pony essays,' when following her relationships revelations she returns to her studies and carries on to university. Jenny had all these illusions of grandeur that Oxford would offer her, not dissimilar from the illusions she had for her life with David. When one collapsed she simply fell back on another dream. However, the ending aids in the realisation that this is a real life story, and all the more shocking and controversial for it. Away from the fanciful notions the story is essentially one that borders on criminal acts of racketeering and pedophilia.
The realism of the plot is also emphasised in moments when Jenny tells of her engagement to her parents and her naivety and youth are fully demonstrated. Essentially Jenny is just a rebellious teen, dramatically attempting to provoke a reaction, to make a statement, to have someone convince her that education is all she dreams it to be; when she gets none of these Jenny carries on, despite probably realising at this point with all her intelligence it is the wrong thing to do. In some ways Jenny embodies the modern progressive thinking of the 1960s time period battling with the pomp and traditions of old war-torn generations. Emphasised by the factor that David is Jewish being regularly thrown around by her elders, whilst his age is not.
Whilst the show is stolen by Carey Mulligan's performance of Jenny; equal in terms of naivety and immaturity is the much older David. His rushed proposal, his shocking proposition with the banana, his baby talk and quick lovemaking all demonstrate his inabilities to act as a grown up. His actions in both his work and romantic life are frivolous, irrational and delivered with little thought of the consequences; not dissimilar to the actions of a child. It is this childish mind-frame that allows for his sycophantic, almost sociopathic behaviour; that leaves him potentially ruining Jenny's life with little care. With his smart suit and flashy car he is nothing short of a walking illusory figure, perhaps most evident in his complete lack of courage and responsibility to such an extent he is incapable of even facing Jenny's parents once the illusion has been shattered.
Rosamund Pike is also brilliant in the role of Helen - David's friend Danny's girlfriend. She plays the role; glassy eyed, stylish and gorgeous and with a lack of intelligence evident by her complete misunderstanding of the term "to read English at Oxford." However it is Helen that spearheads the hints of reality amongst all the illusions; it is she who congratulates Jenny on not sleeping with David yet, who warns her of the dangers of getting pregnant and who teaches her that where David is concerned whatever material possessions Jenny wants she can have. There are later hints that she perhaps was once as bright eyed and brassy (albeit not as intelligent) as Jenny before she settled in her place as the other woman or at least is entirely sympathetic with Jenny's naivety having once experienced it herself.
The title of the film lends itself as a double entendre; as it is clear by the end Jenny has received not just a scholastic education but a life lesson, admitting to her teacher that she feels 'old but not very wise.' It is clear everything has been carefully considered within the film with the soundtrack shifting into bursts of French language synonymous with Jenny's own vocabulary and the closing smoky voice of Duffy crooning 'If I had known you were cheating me/I would have saved myself and set you free.' However perhaps the most foreshadowing utilisation of music is within the jazz club, in which Beth Rowley sings 'I've got you wrapped around my little finger / If this is love, it's everything that I've been dreaming of' demonstrating the extent to which the film presents just one illusion after another. A fact even further emphasised as Jenny and David's wife appear in similar dresses demonstrating the sense of disrupted reality and the closing moments of the film where Jenny admits she has since pretended she has never even been to Paris - as if her past life was nothing but a dream.
