| Saturday, October 24, 2009 |
| Anglophilia |
We went to see two movies today, both British imports. I picked the first one, "An Education," which I was desperate to see because it is that rare thing, a decently-reviewed Peter Sarsgaard movie. Lately, he's been in more than few stinkers, like "Orphan" and "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh." Joe picked the second one, "The Damned United," a film about an English football club manager, scripted by the always-reliable Peter Morgan ("The Queen," "Frost/Nixon"). After "An Education" ended, we had 45 minutes to drive to the other end of town to catch "United." Seeing them both back to back like that made me realize that the seemingly dissimilar films did have one common theme -- arrogance. (Warning: mild spoilers ahead...)
Jenny, the young heroine of "An Education," played by the dazzling newcomer Carey Mulligan, is a 16-year-old schoolgirl who has only one thing on her mind -- getting into Oxford -- until David (Sarsgaard) comes along. A sophisticated, wealthy, much-older man, he wines and dines her, showing her a glamorous life she never knew existed. It's certainly a far cry from anything she's ever experienced in her dull, early-60s suburban life. Why should she plod away at Latin and eventually wind up like her dowdy spinster schoolteacher (played by the usually-very-undowdy Olivia Williams) when she can run off with David and enjoy a whirlwind of travel, concerts and beautiful clothes? I don't think it's giving too much away to reveal that Jenny eventually learns that David doesn't quite offer the easy path to a perfect life.
Mulligan, like her American counterpart Ellen Page, can play much younger than her actual age (she was in her early 20s when the film was shot, but is completely convincing as a 16-year-old). It seemed unrealistic to me that Jenny's parents would be so supportive of her relationship with David, but thinking about it later, I realized that a middle-class couple with few means (in one scene, Jenny's father complains about how much he'll have to spend to send her to Oxford) probably would want their daughter to "marry up," as it were. And in that day & age, once you were a married woman, what would be the point of furthering your education?
If I had a daughter around Jenny's age, I'd want her to see this film -- as dated as some aspects are, the message that in the end, a woman must be able to depend on herself and not simply rely on a man is a timeless one.
Jenny thinks she's got life figured out at age 16. Brian Clough (Michael Sheen) didn't have the excuse of youth -- he was an adult man with a family when he became manager of the Leeds United football club in 1974, the most coveted job in U.K. sport. He promptly went in and told the team members that they were doing everything wrong, despite their long record of victories under previous manager Don Revie, and from now on, it would be his way or the highway. In fact, Clough is practically a textbook example of how not to succeed in a new job. He's such a jerk that it's hard not to want him to fail, and fail he does. Most of "The Damned United" takes place in flashback, as we learn how Clough was able to attain the lofty position of Leeds manager in the first place. A big part of his prior success at Derby County was due to his assistant manager, Pete Taylor (Timothy Spall), who had an uncanny knack for being able to pick players who would help lead the team to victory. But when he gets the Leeds job, Clough is convinced he can go it alone -- that he's the genius. He is very wrong.
In the film, the Brian-Pete relationship is -- well, I don't want to use the hated word bromance, but "United" is practically a love story in which the two men are together and then split up and everything goes haywire because they are so obviously meant to be a pair. It's sad to note that while the film shows them reconciling, in real life, they were torn apart a decade later by a disagreement over a player's transfer to a different team. The men remained estranged until Taylor's death in 1990. Clough died five years ago, and his family is reportedly angry at inaccuracies in the film. (It's based on a novel, The Damned Utd. by David Peace, which is a fictionalized account of Clough's tenure at Leeds.) The "goofs" page of the movie's IMDB profile shows that the writers took plenty of liberties, and shows that a lot of football fans want to set the record straight. For instance, "the 3rd round F.A. Cup tie between Leeds and Derby on the 27th of January 1968 depicted in the movie was played in Leeds, not in Derby." Good to know!
Bottom line: if you're a Sarsgaard fan like me, run, don't walk, to see "An Education." It would also appeal to anyone in search of a coming-of-age saga or period piece -- it's certainly a nice alternative to all the horror fare currently clogging theaters. I was a little more lukewarm on "The Damned United," mostly because Clough was such an unlikable and deluded character. On the up side, it's easy to follow even if you know nothing about football, and Sheen gives yet another excellent performance.
One slightly odd note: the dialogue of both films include reference to the "wandering Jew." I had always thought that was the name of a plant, but I now know that it is also a figure from folklore who was cursed to walk the Earth until Jesus' second coming. We live and learn. |
posted by 125records @ 9:11 PM  |
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| 2 Comments: |
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Saw An Eduction last week and enjoyed it. Very well acted by everyone. Aside from the main characters I really liked Dominic Cooper as Danny. The movie is similar in some ways to the Rita Tushigham movie, Girl with Green eyes, made in the 60's. It has Peter Finch as the much older man.A movie also well worth seeing.
There is a long article written by the woman on whom the Education movie is based at the Guardian UK website. Fascinating. One still wonders, "What were her parents thinking?".
Vallery
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Your observations on her parents' behavior are right on the nose. It's crucial to remember that until very recently England was very much a place where the class system was all but inescapable. If you weren't born into money and you wanted to climb the social ladder, you'd better marry someone with connections or "respectability." Even impoverished aristocrats were still held in some regard simply because they had titles and a legacy; at the same time, common people who had worked their way to wealth were often regarded with suspicion. So it makes sense that Jenny's parents would happily offer her up to David, even if it means letting go of their own ambitions for her. An advantageous marriage would be seen in their circle as being far more valuable than an Oxford education (frankly, the parents would only have sent her to college so she could get what used to be called her "MRS degree" here in America). When I saw "The Damned United," I was thinking, "This is the sort of movie that would never be made in the U.S." Clough is all but insufferable, and that's the point: It's a lesson about how even "winners" can be brought down by their over-inflated egos and know-it-all attitudes. You're right: Sheen is amazing.
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Saw An Eduction last week and enjoyed it. Very well acted by everyone. Aside from the main characters I really liked Dominic Cooper as Danny. The movie is similar in some ways to the Rita Tushigham movie, Girl with Green eyes, made in the 60's. It has Peter Finch as the much older man.A movie also well worth seeing.
There is a long article written by the woman on whom the Education movie is based at the Guardian UK website. Fascinating. One still wonders, "What were her parents thinking?".
Vallery