Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: An Education (2009) - Scherfig, Hornby and Barber's tender and intelligent coming-of-age charmer

6/06/2017

An Education (2009) - Scherfig, Hornby and Barber's tender and intelligent coming-of-age charmer

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best English Movie of the Year + Best Period Movie of the Year + Best Shooting Star Actress of the Year (Carey Mulligan)

Peter Sarsgard and Carey Mulligan - in a dreamy dress - look delicate on one of the year's best posters, for Lone Scherfig's An Education

In 1961, Jenny is a young, hopeful woman with her life ahead of her, who walks right into the arms of a thrilling, older gentleman, who introduces her to many things new - and forces her into making a fateful decision.

An Education is written by Nick Hornby (Brooklyn (2015)), based on the same-titled 2009 memoir by Lynn Barber, and directed by Danish master filmmaker Lone Scherfig (Italian for Beginners/Italiensk for Begyndere (2000)).
It features a stellar cast led by Carey Mulligan (Never Let Me Go (2010)), who is nothing short of a revelation as Jenny. Peter Sarsgaard (Night Moves (2013)), Dominic Cooper (Miss You Already (2015)), Rosamund Pike (A Rather English Marriage (1999), TV movie), Olivia Williams (Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)), Emma Thompson (I Am Legend (2007)) and Alfred Molina (Swelter (2014)) provide the remarkably fine backup and range from good to formidable.
The film presents a compelling story that's smartly written and handsomely staged. SPOILER Only the father's confession in the end that he has been afraid his whole life seems too much like a written occurrence rather than as an authentic one. But it doesn't change the fact that An Education is an elegant crowd-pleaser.

Related posts:

Lone Scherfig: 2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date
Italian for Beginners/Italiensk for Begyndere (2000) - A perfect gem of a Dogme romcom

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 7.5 mil. $
Box office: 26 mil. $
= Box office success
[An Education premiered 18 January (Sundance) and runs 95 minutes. Shooting took place in Paris, France and in England, including in London and in the Twickenham Film Studios in Middlesex from March - April 2008. The film opened #39 in 4 theaters to a 139k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #14 and in 761 theaters (different weeks; the screens spiked around Oscar time) and grossed 12.5 mil. $ (48 % of the total gross) during its 30 week-long engagement. Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 2.9 mil. $ (11.2 %) and Scherfig's native Denmark with 1.8 mil. $ (6.9 %). The film was nominated for 3 Oscars: For Best Picture (lost to The Hurt Locker), Actress (lost to Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side) and Best Adapted Screenplay (lost to Geoffrey Fletcher for Precious). It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, 8 BAFTAS - winning one, 6 British Independent Film Awards - winning one, a European Film Award, an Independent Spirit Award, won two National Board of Review awards, 3 Sundance awards - winning two, among many others. An Education is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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6/06/2017

An Education (2009) - Scherfig, Hornby and Barber's tender and intelligent coming-of-age charmer

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