An Education

In the post-war, pre-Beatles London suburbs, a bright schoolgirl is torn between studying for a place at Oxford and the more exciting alternative offered to her by a charismatic older man.

In the post-war, pre-Beatles London suburbs, a bright schoolgirl is torn between studying for a place at Oxford and the more exciting alternative offered to her by a charismatic older man.

Peter Sarsgaard discusses his character David in an interview for An Education.

The International Trailer for An Education. In the post-war, pre-Beatles London suburbs, a bright schoolgirl is torn between studying for a place at Oxford and the rather more exciting alternative offered to her by a charismatic older man.

Coverage of the premiere of An Education at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, as presented by Red Carpet Diary.

Compilation of footage from the LA premiere of An Education. Clip features interviews from the red carpet.

A second international trailer for An Education. Following a youth orchestra rehearsal, bright, beautiful school girl Jenny is given a lift home by a charming older man, David. The two strike up a relationship which includes David's business partner Danny and Danny's vapid mistress, Helen. David charms and coaxes Jenny's protective parents into allowing him to take her to concerts, jazz clubs, and even Paris. Jenny finds out that David and Danny steal things from houses for sale. She also finds out that David makes money by moving black families into flats near elderly women who are afraid of them, so he can buy the flats cheap. On discovering this Jenny is horrified and threatens to leave the relationship, but in the end she finds her new life so enthralling that she looks past the darker side. After seeing Jenny dance with Danny, David hastily proposes to Jenny. Her father agrees to the engagement and Jenny drops out of school without taking her A-levels. While searching for cigarettes in David's glove compartment, Jenny finds a stack of letters addressed to 'Mr. and Mrs. David Goldman.' She demands that he tell her parents that he is already married so she won't have to do it herself, but instead he drives off. Her old headmistress refuses to allow her to repeat her final year of school, so Jenny goes to the home of her favorite teacher, who helps her study and pass her A-levels. She is accepted to read English at Oxford, which had been her ambition before she met David. The final scene shows her riding her bike on the streets of Oxford with a male student. Jenny narrates in the background: 'So, I went to read English books, and did my best to avoid the speccy, spotty fate that Helen had predicted for me. I probably looked as wide-eyed, fresh, and artless as any other student...But I wasn't. One of the boys I went out with, and they really were boys, once asked me to go to Paris with him. And I told him I'd love t

Featurette for An Education takes a look at David (Peter Sarsgaard) and whether his relationship with Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is inappropriate.

An Education is the story of a teenage girl's coming-of-age set in 1961 London, a city caught between the drab, post-war 1950s and the glamorous, more liberated decade to come. Jenny (Carey Mulligan) stands on the brink of becoming a woman: a brilliantly witty and attractive 16-year-old whose suburban life is about to be blown apart by the utterly unsuitable 30-something David (Peter Sarsgaard). Urbane and witty, David manages to charm her conservative parents Jack (Alfred Molina) and Marjorie (Cara Seymour). David introduces Jenny to a glittering new world of classical concerts and late-night suppers with his attractive friend and business partner, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Danny's girlfriend, the beautiful but vacuous Helen (Rosamund Pike). Just as Jenny's family's long-held dream of getting their brilliant daughter into Oxford seems within reach, Jenny is tempted by another kind of life.

Director Lone Scherfig discusses the differences between the memoir and the film in an interview for An Education.

Director Lone Scherfig discusses reading the script in an interview for An Education.