An Education (2009)

Director:

Lone Scherfig

Writers:

Lynn Barber (memoir)
Nick Hornby (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 October 2009 (New Zealand)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.

Plot Keywords:

Oxford | 1960s | School | Judaism | Auction

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Carey Mulligan	...	Jenny
Olivia Williams	...	Miss Stubbs
Alfred Molina	...	Jack
Cara Seymour	...	Marjorie
William Melling	...	Small Boy #1
Connor Catchpole	...	Small Boy #2
Matthew Beard	...	Graham
Peter Sarsgaard	...	David
Amanda Fairbank-Hynes	...	Hattie
Ellie Kendrick	...	Tina
Dominic Cooper	...	Danny
Rosamund Pike	...	Helen
Nick Sampson	...	Auctioneer
Kate Duchêne	...	Latin Teacher
Bel Parker	...	Small Girl

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexual content, and for smoking.

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Australia:M | Ireland:15A | UK:12A | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Ontario) | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

BBC Films

Trivia:

The author of the original account, Lynn Barber stipulated in her contract that she would be allowed to see and comment (but not alter) every draft written by the screenwriter, Nick Hornby. She mentioned that she was happy with most of the changes, but her one regret was that Hornby changed the name of her lover, Simon, to David, which was her real husband's name. She stated that "I wish in retrospect I'd put up a fight".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the scene where David and Jenny are driving to meet the black family modern cars are visible in the background.

Quotes:

Jenny: If people die the moment that they graduate, then surely it's the things we do beforehand that count.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2009-10-10)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Smoke Without Fire

Perfect pitch

This beautifully observed film is anchored by a series of performances acted with perfect pitch by its stars and supporting cast, led by the remarkable Carey Mulligan, and a truly extraordinary script by Nick Hornby. The coming of age plot is, perhaps, a little formulaic but that really takes second place to a series of wonderfully engaging characters who surround Ms. Mulligan's 16/17 year-old Jenny as she falls a little to hard for the appealing (and older) rogue played by Peter Sarsgaard.

One annoying little piece of trivium. The University of Oxford does not now and did not in 1962 admit undergraduates. Undergraduates are admitted by individual colleges at the university. So the letter that Jenny receives in which we learn whether she was accepted for a place would have come from a college and not the university as a whole.

And one amusing detail: Rosamund Pike who plays Dominic Cooper's decidedly non-academic blonde girlfriend actually attended Wadham College, Oxford! Takes an Oxford alum to play a dumb blonde, I suppose.