I had an opportunity to talk on the phone with Lone Scherfig, the Danish filmmaker whose films Italian for Beginners and Wilbur Wants to Kill HImself have garnered widespread critical acclaim. An Education is Scherfig's second film set in England, and is based on a memoir by Lynn Barber about growing up during the 1950s in London. Nick Hornby (author of High Fidelity and About a Boy) wrote the screenplay, and the excellent cast includes Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson, and Rosaumnd Pike. Newcomer Carey Mulligan stars as a teenage girl focused on her studies and getting into Oxford, until a glamourous older man (Peter Saarsgard) takes an interest in her. I talked with Scherfig about getting involved in the project, the actors, the story's social issues, and her mastery of wordless moments.
How did this project come your way?
Nick Hornby and I have the same agent; she says she’s afraid of having more than one client on the same project, but she gave it to me. I’ve always liked his writing, I think we have a lot in common, even though I’m not English. The film is very English. I met him, he saw my films, I met the producers, and I stayed on board. It was a short process, and I was involved in the last two drafts of the script. The picture didn’t have complicated financing. When things have a shorter process, I think the story stays fresher than if the production process goes on longer.
How did Carey Mulligan become involved?
The casting director had given me a pile of DVDs and she was always my first choice. I saw her in person, then she met Pater Saarsgard. We did a very thorough audition. I know exactly what level of talent there is at that age, and she felt right for the part and added something to it. She had a sweetness I really liked. Jenny is actually quite lippy, and so is Lynn Barber, and Carey just has this charm that I think really adds to Jenny’s characters. It’s a pleasure working with her and its wonderful seeing how her career is exploding at the moment. When I first met her, she was just a young girl looking for a job, and now you can see she is just a blooming film star. It’s so great to be a part of it and watch it happen. Nick Hornby says in a few years everyone will forget he wrote novels; he’ll be famous for writing the script that made Carey Mulligan a star.
This film has such a strong sense of place and time; not that I was in London in the 1960s, but it feels very authentic, visually and tonally.
I think what you want as a filmmaker working on a period film is for people to feel they have been somewhere and met someone, that they’ve gone effortlessly back in time. Jenny is so much a part of her time, and London as well, the whole package of this film is so contained. You feel as if you really travel somewhere, so that you don’t notice the cinematography or the acting. You should feel as if it becomes your film, and not Nick’s or mine. Then we’ve done our job well.
I did find that Jenny’s parents were portrayed as being very permissive, even by today’s standards; I mean, they allow her to spend the weekend with this older man.
Yes, definitely, it’s a combination of two things: that they are not educated, and also that the father just falls for this worldly man who comes into the house, who has a car, and knows how to get to the West End, he can pronounce things. Also we created a space where he would seem to fit in. I had four chairs at the table, even though there are only three people living there. The rooms are more spacious and uncluttered than they would have been naturally. The father is making a racist joke the minute David walks in, and everything changes. We knew it was crucial that the audience be seduced the same way Jenny and her parents are, otherwise the film wouldn’t land on both legs.
Her mother seems even more casual about Jenny’s behavior.
Her mother’s attitude is summed up when Jenny says “It was the happiest night of my life” and her mother says nothing; she has accepted that she and Jenny are not really the same breed. Marjorie is a loving mother but they don’t click; Jenny is much more of a daddy’s girl. Interestingly, though, she (Marjorie) was in many scenes, but in the script she doesn’t say much. It was up to Carey and to me to figure out how to have her involved. Her parents are still so affected by the war and rationing that they’ve already given up, even though they’re not that old. Jack is dogmatic, and he’s scared for the future. He does see Oxford as more expensive alternative to a dinner dance, and thinks Jenny needs to find someone to support her, rather than understanding she needs an education for her own sake, and her own pleasure. Luckily, as a viewer you know that right after the world of this film’s story has ended, there will be much more space in the world for people like Jenny, career opportunities she can’t see at that point, the women in the film simply can’t see it yet.
Olivia Williams’ character is an example of the typical career path for an educated woman in those days; she’s a very intriguing character and it’s a very restrained performance.
Olivia was wonderful to work with. I was really hoping to meet with her this week, she lives here now. There are only two characters in this story who have a college education, but in real life, Rosamund Pike actually has an Oxford education but plays the dumbest character. I like to cast against type like that: to have Olivia play someone so plain, and have Rosamund play someone with an IQ of 45, to have Alfred Molina as a comedian. Casting like this makes actors like what they’re doing because they’re bubbling inside. Olivia loved her horn-rimmed glasses and the challenge of playing such an unglamorous character.
One more thing I want to talk about: something I really enjoyed so much about this film was the little visual touches that really told the story at times. One example that stands out for me is when Jenny’s father leaves the tea and cookies outside her door. There was something so powerful about that moment.
I’m happy you noticed that! It was my decision to have a close-up of the cup and the custard creams cookies, that’s not actually in the script. The dialogue, where he says “I brought you a cup of tea” is in there, and then you get Jenny’s reaction to seeing it. I like props a lot, and a period film shouldn’t make you feel like you’re in a museum, but sometimes they can work really well. I felt like it was a big thing for a man of his size and his authority to make up that dish for her, to make that effort. I remember Alfred was there when I was placing the cookies on the plate, and he said Jack would never place them that way. It was very funny. I’m so glad you liked that moment because actually quite a lot went into it.
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