3 more reviews

1. ›An Education (Película): el deseo de crecer demasiado rápido@cristiancaicedo2048d

   

   Está basada en una novela de Lynn Barber

   Hace algunos meses subí la reseña de la película The Experimenter, protagonizada por Peter Sarsgaard, un actor de quien no había visto mucho y sin embargo esa misma noche - sin pretenderlo - vi dos de sus actuaciones más famosas. La primera fue la ya mencionada y la segunda fue precisamente An Education, coprotagonizada por la siempre encantadora Carey Mulligan.

   

   Póster para España

   Traducida literalmente para España como Una educación y para américa latina como Enseñanzas de vida (¿por qué no podemos tener las mismas traducciones de los títulos de las películas que nuestros amigos del viejo continente si hablamos el mismo idioma?) la cinta cuenta la historia de Jenny (Mulligan), una atractiva y brillante estudiante de 16 años que vive en un tranquilo barrio de Londres. Jenny sólo piensa en estudiar para poder ir a Oxford, toca el violoncello y es una adolescente normal, con sus sueños e inquietudes, pero además brillante en la escuela. Es la típica chica para quien todos sus conocidos augurarían un gran futuro. Un día lluvioso conoce a Brit (Sarsgaard), un hombre de 35 años que le ofrece llevarla a casa y que luego, poco a poco, comienza a frecuentarla, a ir a su hogar, a cortejarla. Brit se viste bien, es educado, se ve que le gusta lo elegante, las cenas en restaurantes de lujo, la música clásica, ¿cómo no impresionar a una adolescente como Jenny, más aún cuando le hace sentir que la vida es mucho más que ir a Oxford a estudiar?

   

   Jenny

   De la misma forma en que Brit invade el mundo de Jenny, con visitas a su casa, encantando a su familia, especialmente a su estricto padre, obsequiándole objetos muy especiales, la chica también comienza a descubrir quién es es este hombre, quiénes son sus amigos y qué es lo que hace con su vida para poder costear las cenas, los clubs y los viajes con sus amigos, Danny y Helen. Sin revelar nada concreto para que se animen a ver la película, sólo les diré que el conocer más al hombre del que se está enamorando, pone a Jenny en medio de un importante dilema moral, porque sí, se siente atraída por él, pero ¿es eso lo que quiere para su vida? ¿es eso lo que se espera de ella?

   

   Una Jenny, más "adulta"

   Uno de los puntos centrales de la historia es el cambio en la apariencia de Jenny, quien comienza a vestirse y a peinarse para verse menos niña. Ya fumaba, pero usa el cigarrillo como signo de madurez y comienza a disfrazarse de algo que aún no es. A su situación personal, su rebeldía, su crisis de identidad lilgada al amor por este hombre, se suma el cuidado de sus padres, sus consejos, las palabras de sus amigas y la genuina preocupación de su directora, quien teme que Jenny eche por la borda su brillante futuro por dejarse llevar por ese deseo de crecer demasiado rápido. Es inevitable que muchas personas condenen inmediatamente la cinta por la diferencia de edad entre la pareja protagonista (ligeramente menos impactante que la diferencia entre H.H. y Lolita), pero si se deja eso de lado y se decide ver la película libre de prejuicios (como creo que debe uno acercarse al cine y a la Literatura) puede llegar a ser una experiencia agradable y resultar incluso romántico el cortejo de Brit a Jenny, sus cenas elegantes, su escapada a París y la forma en que si bien la chica actúa pretendiendo ser más adulta, también el maduro Brit se comporta algunas veces como un adolescente enamorado.

   

   Jenny y Brit

   Además de la oportunidad de poder ver a una inusualmente morena Carey Mulligan, la película cuenta también con la participación de grandes actores y actrices como Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike, la siempre perfecta Emma Thompson y Sally Hawkins, con lo que las buenas actuaciones están aseguradas. La trama de un hombre mayor y una mujer menor es un cliché y difícilmente nos libraremos de él (que incluso ya se ha extendido empleando la combinación opuesta), pero al margen del dilema moral que puede representar apoyar a esta pareja, la película tiene sus momentos románticos y encantadores y, aunque no me guste el título usado para este lado del mundo, varias lecciones pueden desprenderse de la relación entre ellos. Yo la recomendaría especialmente a los espectadores románticos y a los fanáticos de las relaciones prohibidas, porque hay bastante para ambos grupos en esta historia.

   Reseñado por @cristiancaicedo

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2. ›An Education - Movie Review@coldsteem3071d

   

   We generally associate education with school. But some of life's lessons teach us far more than we could ever learn sitting in a classroom. An Education uses this play on words to present an interesting examination of greed, taboos, choices and consequences.

   

   Jenny (Carey Mulligan) appears to be at the top of her class. She relishes the good grades that she inevitably receives. She is almost smug in her willingness to answer questions. She is the consummate teacher's pet. Jenny's father Jack (Alfred Molina) has been grooming the young lady for an Oxford education. Every detail down to her hobbies has been carefully planned out for her.
   
   When Jenny has a chance encounter with an older man, David (Peter Saarsgard), her plans get derailed. David exudes opulence. His cunning leads you to believe that something is just not right. He even convinces Jenny's father into allowing her to go away on a weekend trip to Oxford. Jenny sacrifices her studies for an engagement to a man who is not exactly who he pretends to be. The problem for Jenny lies in the fact that she has already seen through the facade and chosen to ignore the warning signs. It becomes an education that will exceed anything that Oxford can teach her.

   

   Nick Hornby adapted An Education from a memoir written by Lynn Barber. I have not read the original memoir but am intrigued by the fact that this story was based on actual events. Having said that, I would not consider myself stunned by that fact. This story takes place outside London in the 1960s, in a neighborhood where the illusion of the white picket fence still permeates sensibilities. The characters are well drawn and the scenarios carefully played out to make the events credible. It would seem impossible that David could convince Jack to allow his daughter to spend a weekend with him, especially in a day and age when decorum was so heavily emphasized. Yet we all know someone like Jack. They have a conniving way of making things seem like your idea. The manner in which those concepts were conveyed lent credibility to the story.

   

   Mulligan and Molina made this story work for me. Their characters both have an undercurrent of suspicion, yet both seem to put on blinders to reality. Their performances helped seal the deal. Saarsgard was good as a con artist, and didn't seem to overplay his hand. Rather than coming across as a greasy used car salesman, Saarsgard creates a more cultured conman that lends further dimension to the role. That also goes back to the writing. An Education was well cast.

   

   An Education received a PG-13 rating from the MPAA. I actually expected a bit more sensuality, but the adult themes were tenderly executed. There were some adult situations and implied nudity that demonstrate the director did not want to use gratuitous nudity for shock value or to sell his story. In fact, the adult themes were fairly tame. The rating is accurate based on the subject matter.

   

   I enjoyed An Education slightly more than I thought I would. I wasn't sure what to expect, but figured I would watch the film since it was an Oscar nominee. It wasn't exceptional enough to win an Oscar, and it didn't. Even though this film was based on a true story, I wouldn't consider it particularly unique. The ending was okay but not fantastic. I might have considered Mulligan for the Best Actress nomination (but not given it to her) but am surprised that the film itself was nominated for Best Picture. It just wasn't that good. It is certainly worth streaming if you can find it. 7.5/10.

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3. ›AN EDUCATION [Scherfig 2009] - movie review by Mandibil@mandibil3587d

   Based on the memoirs of Lynn Barber, this movie takes us to the world of a middle class schoolgirl in 60s England, on the cusp of becoming a young woman. I read an article in a UK newspaper, where Barber describes the affair that she had with the man portraid in the movie, and it seems that the movie stays very true to how she actually experienced it and what happened. So this should prove a fairly accurate glimpse into a girl's mind at this crucial age.

   

   Jenny is a sixteen year old schoolgirl, who lives a rather isolated life with her middle class parents. She dutifully does her schoolwork, in order to redeem, primarily her parents dream of her going to Oxford. She has an interest in cool, french culture and existentialism. She also plays the cello and one day after a concert, she is passed up by a charming man in a fancy sports-car, who offers to give her a lift home. She accepts, since he seems so gentleman-like and charming. A few days later she bumps into him again and they agree to meet on a date. Simon, as the man is called, arrives at her parents home and charms them with his manners and apparent riches and her parents feel their daughter is safe with him. Their relationship develops more and more, he takes her to fancy restaurants, meet up with his cool friends and so on. She slowly slides away from her school mentality as she becomes this sort of female Jeckyll and Hyde, living a double life in the weekends off in Paris or somewhere else, getting spoiled by Simon. It goes so far that he proposes to her and her parents agree, but then she starts to find out things about Simon that is not so charming.

   

   My hat goes off to Carey Mulligan, who plays Jenny. She is absolutely brilliant in this role. She has the perfect mix of youthful looks, that is both naive but also pretentiously intellectual. The right personality to end up in a situation like this. She has a natural way of acting that is honest and believable and her grin is just lovely. All the characters are so deliciously played. Slightly caricatured, like the school teacher Miss Stubbs, but only to emphasize a point or a certain personal trait. The actors are very precisely picked for their specific roles. Their personalities respectively stand out clearly, while never taking the spotlight away from Carey, which is a trait of a seasoned and precise director. The main theme of her being lured into his world by giving her nice things is sort of formulaic, but still, this is what usually happens in these kind of "kidnappings". There are several side stories though, that are much deeper and way more interesting. The very controlling and safety first type parents suddenly loose all control, when a man with the right cultural attributes show up in their inexperienced daughters life. There is a side story about conforming to cultural norms indoctrinated into children, but they instinctively know that it is bullshit, because they see nothing but destroyed and conforming adults lecturing them. And then the most important, learning to trust your instincts. Jenny never asks Simon any important questions. She has no tools to scout for the psychopathic traits that are everywhere in Simon. It is actually a picture of culture as a camouflage for psychopathy, the sort that makes young and inexperienced girls easier targets for exploitation by those without a conscience. This is brilliantly portraid between the lines and in my opinion takes this movie to the highest levels.

   

   I was hooked from the first minutes that Carey Mulligan came on screen. She is an adorable actor and she gets a lot of credit for lifting this movie. The stories are some that everyone can relate to and they are played out without prejudice. Jenny comes of age through this experience, because no one knew how to teach it to her, but herself. This is the sad reality for most young kids today - "an education" is more than what can be learned in a classroom. A truly great movie.

   

   Rating: 10/10

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