CASTILLEJOS, Zambales, Philippines – The value in a girl getting proper schooling takes on a whole new meaning in the 2009 film An Education.
Of course the 1960’s woman’s view toward education beyond learning how to read, write and count – the things that are of practical use in everyday life – is poles apart from the gleaming visage all of us men and women, children and adults see right now.
Director Lone Scherfig’s An Education effectively puts the time turners to good employ, achieving results with fantastic performances from Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson and Olivia Williams, and an insightfully wise script.
The story of young Jenny Mellor, played by Mulligan, on her way to the University of Oxford, serendipitously meeting a world vagabond and a rather old man, David Goldman, played by Sarsgaard, who shows her the life beyond the setting sun.
He sweeps her to her dream places and eventually asks for her hand for marriage, a proposal that has her turn her back on her education until a long and well-kept secret comes out of hiding.
An Education, based on a memoir of the same title by British journalist Lynn Barber, is full of life-essential lessons, good music and strong acting performances.
The element I admired most is the script, particularly the way it has the rather sensible Jenny considering valid reasons against what is right – because no one had explained to her exactly why she needed education.
Looking back at the whole new vista she was tempted to live in, Jenny was bound to make a decision about what she truly craves: what is right, or what is easy.
An enjoyable film full of soul, An Education truly is worth digesting.
Eroll Yabut is a Junior Reporter for Youth Journalism International.