An Education (review)

I nearly didn’t see An Education, the adaptation of Lynn Barber’s memoir of the same name - an overrunning Amnesty meeting meant I had a choice between running back to my room, grabbing my glasses, running over to the student cinema and getting in before they shut everything up or walking back and missing the whole thing. I chose the first on a whim, and now I’ve seen it I’m glad I did.

That said, I can’t make my mind up if I liked it or not. It’s difficult to explain… there’s something about strong, borderline arrogant female leads that tends to set me at a sense of unease, and no doubt it’s probably some subconscious misogyny in me. But bearing that in mind, there’s no question that Carey Mulligan in the lead role of Jenny Miller (an inspired choice) is endearing in her own way, and there’s a great deal of empathy. Perhaps it’s the contradiction that comes out of caring about a character and wanting to see them get their comeuppance. The fact that she eventually gets it is something of a consolation, then, and by the end of the film all the elements of Jenny that set me a little on edge had been swept away.

It’s not just that either, though - An Education is superbly acted on all fronts, even with the bit parts, and it’s an intensely personal story. At points, just because every emotion feels real, you find yourself not sure what to do in the same situations that the characters are unsure of how to behave. Of course, at the same time you laugh at the moments of hilarity, cry at the inevitable heartbreak and smile at the sort-of happily-ever-after ending. Something so human will inevitably have its ups and downs.

All in all, it’s an excellent coming-of-age film, and probably deserves the Best Picture Oscar (though there’s others that probably deserve it more - I’m looking at District 9 and Up In The Air, and if Avatar and/or Precious get it I’ll probably spontaneously shit everywhere, then post it straight to the Academy). However, there are elements that are easily ignored - the cinematography’s nothing special, oddly enough I didn’t think about the soundtrack once, and there’s nothing amazing about the directing either. Where this films shines is with its actors - at least three, and possibly up to around eight pitch-perfect performances are what make An Education shine.

Things 10/02/2010:

It’s been a while since I did a “things” thing, so here’s some things on my mind this week.

• Favourite group/singer this week: Marina & The Diamonds, specifically this song. She sounds like David Bowie if he was a woman and had a lower voice and more class. That is, by no means, a bad thing.
• Favourite film this week: An Education, which I reviewed a few days ago. Yes, it was ages ago. But it only took in five million on release, so my guess is you haven’t seen it either. Get the DVD, download it off iTunes - just make sure you see it, as it’s brilliant.
• Massive innovation of the week: Fav4. Based off the idea that most people frequent a maximum of four websites in any average sitting (for me, it’s Tumblr, Facebook, Google Reader and Youtube), Fav4 presents you with a beautiful, sleek four-icon homepage whenever you open your browser. It loads incredibly quickly (as quickly as your New Tab page, anyway) and is staying on my browser for good.
• If you’re not already following it, this week I’ve discovered yewknee.com, one of the best combinations of original content and web findings I’ve seen so far. I discovered Fav4 thanks to this, along with a host of other graphical beauties and great music - the owner of the site, Michael Eades, also provides roughly monthly mixtapes that are either painstakingly selected or the product of beautiful taste. If you’re not already checking it out, do so now.
• Fellow atheists, free-thinkers and reasonable people - there’s a petition online right now to make the Pope pay for his state visit to the UK, which at first glance seems like it isn’t worthwhile signing but when you realise that millions of pounds are going into the visit you get a little more dubious. Even if you’re a die-hard Christian, this is still disgusting, and the more voices out there the louder we can shout. So sign it, before it’s no longer relevant.

A bit more strained than usual, but I’ve been a bit more absent from the internet lately. Have a good night. Oh, and if you want to ask questions, either about this or in general, click the link below.

Interrogate me.