Lone Scherfig makes room for people to be funny, impatient and mistaken without treating them as fools. We value her warmth and light comic touch, though her polished presentation can soften the awkwardness that gives a story its force.
Fi1m perspective
In An Education (2009), the conversation between a schoolgirl and an older man can be easy without being reassuring. Scherfig understands the schoolgirl’s impatience to get on with living and never treats it as mere foolishness. We felt uneasy watching Carey Mulligan’s Jenny Mellor take David Goldman’s attention as proof of her readiness for adult life, because Peter Sarsgaard keeps their difference in experience apparent. Scherfig handles the attraction and the discomfort with care. We recommend the film warmly, though its supporting adults are not all given Jenny’s complexity.
Her international breakthrough, Italian for Beginners (2000), used the Dogme approach to location shooting and naturalistic sound. She moved into English-language features with Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002), balancing comedy with more painful feeling. Her subsequent British and international work includes One Day (2011) and the wartime London ensemble Their Finest (2017). The recurring interest is in relationships and the choices people hope will improve their lives.
The care over timing is particularly clear in An Education. Barney Pilling’s editing keeps the comedy moving without cutting short our opportunities to watch Jenny thinking. Paul Englishby’s score suits Scherfig’s light touch, although its agreeableness can make difficult material feel too comfortable. The performances put back some of the awkwardness the polish removes. Sarsgaard supplies enough charm to make the attraction credible, while Mulligan makes Jenny’s wish to escape the life planned for her feel urgent.
The limit is clearest in Nick Hornby’s screenplay, which sometimes gives the supporting adults a lesson to deliver rather than a life of their own. Alfred Molina and Olivia Williams suggest more than their immediate function in Jenny’s story, but the smaller parts can remain thin. Scherfig’s generosity towards actors helps without solving that problem. Start with An Education, and watch what Mulligan does with the time Scherfig gives her.
Biography
Lone Scherfig is a Danish film director. She graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 1984 after studying film at the University of Copenhagen and the Sorbonne.
Her feature debut was Kajs fødselsdag (1990). She directed the Dogme 95 film Italian for Beginners (2000), which won the Silver Bear (Jury Prize) at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival. Subsequent films include Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002), An Education (2009), One Day (2011), The Riot Club (2014) and Their Finest (2017). She has also directed television series.
