An Education

1. What kind of Britain is represented? How does it compare to the Britain represented in Passport to Pimlico?


Even though the two films are set 20 years apart, the views of both differ in several ways. Passport to Pimlico is a very classical and stereotypical view of Britain and a British way of life. However, the views on Britain within An Education i feel are still very stereotypical outside views of Britain. i think the main difference between the two films are the period in which they are set and how the views within the film have changed. Passport to Pimlico shows a much more 'stiff upper lip' feel through out the film with a real feeling of coming together to defeat something which seems very fitting to the time which is was made and set being just after the war. this is something that is not so much shown in An Eduction as it shows a slightly more corrupt British attitude. having said this, i do believe that both films share a similar view on women in Britain and the hierarchy of men within British culture.



2. Describe the character of Jenny? How far do you think she is a typical British teenager? What might be different about her, if anything?

Jenny is shown in many different lights throughout the film which change as the story progresses. She is a typical teenage girl of that time in the beginning of the film as it is quite clearly established very early on that she is very much governed by her father, much to her despair. however, as the story progresses, she begins to become much more rebellious and begins to constantly question and poke holes in her fathers judgment and way of thinking. the audience also gets a strong feeling that she begins to resent her father and wants to do the opposite of what he is making her do. i feel that this feeling, being shown so early on gives the audience a glance at what's to come as equally wants her to rebel. So i believe that Jenny's character in the film is stereotypical of a typical british teenager of her time but then goes against this by rebeling against her father.




3. What impression does the film give of Britain if you are a woman? Describe Helen, Jenny's Mother, Jenny's teacher and Jenny in terms of representations of women.

throughout the whole film, there is a clear differential between men and women which shows a definate highrachy in the men of the film. Firstly this is shown in the relationship between Jenny, her Mother and her father. it is quite clearly established very early on that Jenny's father, Alfred has a very strong control on both the female characters within his household which was very much the case at this time. Equally, both David and Danny are shown to have alot of control over Jenny and Helen. even though Jenny has rebeled against her fathers views of this obvious highrachy between men and women, she completely gives her self to David which i feel reinforces the view greatly. this differential in power is most obviously seen in the scene where David and Danny steal the map. The way that Danny tells Jenny to stay in the car and says that he "willl not tell her again" shows the power that he has over her. It also reminds the audience of how old Jenny is as this is what an adult would say to a misbehaving child. as well as this, the fact that she then does it shows the power in what her says and the power that he has. on top of this, Helen who is still in the car, already knows the 'rules' of this and knows not to get involved.
Infact i feel that the only woman who is established with any power is Jennys head teacher who shows a clear power over Jenny.




4. What representation of British women do they give and can you think of any contemporary examples of similar women in film?




5. Conduct some research into the film, who made it, how was it funded, who directed it?

 The film was based on the memoirs of a british journalist named Lynn Barber and was directed by Lone Scherfig who is a danish film director. the film cost $7.5 million to make and grossed $24,406,761. the film was initialy premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival where is gained critical acclaim. it was then shown at the Toronto Internation Film Festival, the Telluride by the Sea Film Festival and the Mill Valley Film Festival. it was released in October 2009.