Captivating film delivers an insightful ‘Education’

“Do you still feel like a schoolgirl?”

This is the question posed to Jenny — the 16-year-old protagonist of An Education — by her 30-something seducer David after being exposed to a sophisticated life in the big city of London. It is through Jenny’s vivacity and awe that we as the audience are able to seamlessly take part in the seduction as well.

Directed by Lone Scherfig and written by High Fidelity author Nick Hornby, the film introduces Jenny (Carey Mulligan) as a young and naïve girl who so eagerly wants to learn about the world outside her own. This yearning for knowledge and experience leads her to a much older lover.

An Education is stunningly captivating, mainly through its style, which portrays the restlessness of a young adult without being exaggerated or obnoxious. The film illustrates the ease and need of seduction, especially when there is such a desperate urge to be mature.

When Jenny first meets David (Peter Sarsgaard), she is trapped in a life of routine and preparation: studying excessively to be accepted to Oxford University and aspiring to finally break free from her parents and become a woman. Although Jenny is incredibly determined, all she has are fantasies — until she meets David.

David has charm — charm that is dangerous enough to disguise his attempts at seduction as he easily entices Jenny and her parents, who fall for his allure just as easily as she does. Once David enters Jenny’s life, schoolwork and Oxford become less important than living out in the world, free from traditional societal conventions. With David, an enigmatic older man who appears to be nothing less than perfect, Jenny’s new education completes itself with fancy restaurants, sports cars, art and music.

The film boasts a terrific cast, including Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour as Jenny’s persistent parents, as well as Olivia Williams and Emma Thompson as her formal academic instructors. Jenny views all four as a unified force maintaining her adolescence while she so desperately seeks the sense of maturity David provokes in her.

This maturity springs from that other, sophisticated world, embodied flawlessly by Sarsgaard. He seems to be everything Jenny desires and his culture feverishly consumes her — a notion much more powerful and disgraceful than that of sexuality alone — which is the ultimate basis of his seduction.

An Education demonstrates an outstanding desire to learn, to understand and to be accepted — exemplified beautifully by the expressions on Jenny’s face as she absorbs this new and exciting culture. With Mulligan’s elegance and stunning displays of emotions, Jenny is the heart of the film and there is not one young actress out there capable of portraying Jenny’s gleeful desire better than Mulligan.

The 24-year-old actress fuses passion and innocence together brilliantly. Her attitude is human, and it pleads for disappointment just as bad as it pleads for satisfaction.

Jenny is too young to fully understand the difference between passion and innocence, of both for an accurate maturity, and as they both certainly happen, she becomes even more of a school girl.

Mulligan brings us into the life of a young woman so desperate to learn, and she does in fact learn something. It is incredibly enjoyable to do so along with her and share the anxiety and excitement of being Jenny’s age.

Mulligan also allows the audience to feel every part of her restlessness and eagerness, which puts joy at the same level as despair.

An Education illustrates the exciting yet dangerous nature of growing old before one should. Jenny is a universal character who transcends gender and allows the audience to experience the desperation and the misunderstandings of being young for what sometimes seems like forever.

These attributes are addressed, perfected and made blatantly vital by great direction, an intelligent script and a beneficial cast and, most importantly, by a young actress who is quickly maturing herself.