Throughout the last five years it appears as if Oscar has focused on films with young female protagonists who feel like strong role models for the modern generation. Although they experience numerous hardships along the way, the majority of them end up succeeding in life with some lessons learned by the time the end credits roll. This is certainly true of two Best Picture nominees from the 2010 ceremony with teenage girl protagonists who go on personal journeys. Although the characters and films are very different, both girls struggle with growing pains and by the end of the film have a better idea of who they are. The films also featured lead performances from two relative newcomers who both were nominated for their roles in the respective films and in my opinion both deserved the award more than that year's eventual winner Sandra Bullock.
The first of these two newcomers was Carey Mulligan who absolutely dazzled in her role as sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Jenny in An Education. Jenny starts the film as quite a well-behaved young lady who lives quite a grey life in the suburbs alongside her strict father and quiet mother. Despite living on the outskirts of London, Jenny experiences very little outside of attending school concerts and translating Latin texts. That's until she meets the suave married man David who introduces her to an exciting world of art auctions, greyhound races and dinners in jazz bars. Once focused on getting to Oxford University, Jenny discovers that there's a world out there that she hadn't been aware of before. However, as the film progresses we learn more about David's dodgy dealings and later discover the truth about his home life. An Education is based on the experiences of journalist Lynne Ramsay who experienced a similar affair in the 1960s. However when I read her work it seemed that she'd grown bored of the David character and was instead drawn to his friends Danny and Helen. Nick Hornby's script does reflect this as Danny and Helen do seem a lot more interesting than the one-dimensional David. Danny feels slightly more dangerous whilst ditzy airhead Helen is a wonderful creation as she is the complete antithesis of Jenny but seems to delight in having a new playmate. One issue with Hornby's script appears to be a problem with how exactly to end it. After Jenny has an emotional downfall she finally picks herself up again however her request for help from a former teacher feels a little contrived. However, I can forgive Hornby these sins as altogether An Education benefited from a having a well-paced story which balanced comedy and drama very well.
However, An Education's main draw was Mulligan's central turn as she brought Jenny to life in a fantastic way. Mulligan's fantastically expressive face told you all you needed to know about how Jenny was feeling and let you see just how much her character was enjoying her new life. At the same time she brilliantly conveyed all of Jenny's fears and her wish to grow old before her time. Mulligan benefited from a fantastic cast most notably Alfred Molina as her stick-in-the-mud dad who was constantly complaining about how much money she was costing him. Molina's character's transformation when David came on the scene was marvellously done by the actor and I feel the moment between he and Mulligan towards the film's end was very touching. Rosamund Pike breathed life into Helen making her feel more sympathetic than your typical movie bimbo. Elsewhere fine support was provided by Emma Thompson as Jenny's headteacher and by Olivia Williams as her straight-laced teacher. If there was one weak link in the cast then I'd have to say it was Peter Sarsgaard primarily as he couldn't maintain his British accent throughout the film. Although Sarsgaard got across David's insecurities I'm not quite sure why an American had to play the role over an Englishman. The period setting was also enhanced thanks to Paul Englishby's soundtrack which hinted at the dawn of the swinging sixties. Indeed An Education was well-designed throughout and ably directed by Lone Scherfig. Although nominated in several categories at that year's Oscars, An Education failed to triumph in any of them; however Mulligan did pick up a BAFTA for her tremendous performance. Ultimately An Education is a well-made coming-of-age story that's easy to watch and features one of the best star-making turns in recent history.
However, while Mulligan did have to convey some emotional issues during an education, it was nothing compared to the hardship that Gabourey Sidibe portrayed during her turn as the titular overweight teenager in Precious. As a character, Precious has suffered basically every setback imaginable from living with an abusive mother to having been made pregnant on two separate occasions by her rapist father. Precious' mother Mary is an ogre of a woman and physically and mentally abuses her daughter whilst in addition lies about the occupants of her house in order to keep her welfare cheque. Things change for Precious when she enrols in an alternative school and finally finds a maternal figure in Ms. Blue Rain who teaches a small group of girls. Precious' classmates become a sort of makeshift family and through time she grows in both intelligence and confidence. Following the birth of her son Abdul, Precious finally stands up to her mother and is aided by Ms. Rain in finding somewhere else to stay. However, there are more knockbacks for Precious when she discovers that she is HIV positive due to the fact that her father also had the disease. What I liked about Precious was, even though it was heavy-going, it was still an easy watch. Director Lee Daniels intersperses Precious' many tough situations with fantasy sequences she invents to block out the pain. At just over ninety minutes long, Precious never outstays its welcome and the plot, which is based on the story 'Push' by Sapphire, is well-paced. More than anything else I fully sympathised with Precious and wanted her to leave the abusive landscape behind her and find a new life for her and her children.
I think part of the reason I sympathised with the character of Precious so much is due to the fantastic turn by Sidibe. Unlike Mulligan, Sidibe had never acted before and got her role in the film following an open casting call. I think the fact that this is Sidibe's first on-screen role adds to the realism of the film and helps to contribute to the innocence of the character. As Precious often has to silently react to what's going on around her, I feel that Sidibe's body language told more of the story than most of the dialogue did. Additionally I found that she was equally comfortable in the fantasy sequences in which she was tasked with being a lot more animated than she was in the main body of the film. As Precious' abusive mother Mary, Mo'Nique won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar that year. Primarily a comic actress, Mo'Nique surprised a lot of people by being totally convincing as the despicable chain-smoking beast who tortures her daughter for events beyond her control. I felt that Mo'Nique proved her worth in the final scene in which her character is required to explain her actions in regards to her daughter's wellbeing. Precious also has a fine supporting cast including Paula Patton who was gave a warm performance as the kindly teacher who takes the troubled teenager under her wing. Another surprising turn came from the usually glamorous singer Mariah Carey who stripped back her look to play no-nonsense social worker Ms. Weiss. Whilst the social worker role was initially intended for Helen Mirren, I felt that Carey added some bite to the part and when I first watched the film I didn't even realise who was playing Ms. Weiss. It's fair to say that Precious isn't exactly a feel-good film however it does have a positive message and I found it surprisingly easy to watch. Whilst visually the film is nothing special, the performances from Mo'Nique and especially Sidibe are the reason that Precious is well worth a watch.
Next time two more films with young female protagonists who have to deal with various issues whilst living in the wilderness.
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