Z/Web

I hadn’t heard much about this but it’s getting Oscar buzz and it’s a treasure you need to see. The story’s simple. Set in 1961 England, a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl who’s tired of studying for her exams to get into Oxford, meets a charming older man who seems to be wealthy and worldly, and he romances her off on adventures to concerts and Paris. Finally she’s free of her straight-laced parents and endless books and free to actually live. What’s fascinating is the way her parents go along with this: the man charms them as much as her, and since he’s well-off, they feel the match is okay despite the age difference and her youth. Thus the girl learns that her Oxford destiny wasn’t as much about her accomplishing anything in the world, but merely meeting a suitable match. She begins to question the purpose of education and wonders if a real-world education isn’t superior. I won’t spoil the ending, where she slowly learns that the man isn’t what he seems. The film is brilliantly crafted and the performances are fantastic (the girl is a star in the making). My only criticism is that storywise the film feels slightly lacking, with events leading linearly to a faintly gimmicky conclusion (the story needs a small subplot for additional richness), but there is meat on these bones as the film forces you to ponder the role of education in society. Seek this out.