Two women, two films, first-rate cinema

Two of this week's new films have a number of surface similarities. Both were directed by European women: Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig is behind the English-language "An Education," and "35 Shots of Rum" is the work of French veteran Claire Denis ("Beau Travail," "Friday Night"). Both films are low-key dramas, with some comic elements; both deal in large part with academically ambitious young women on the verge of first love and the mixed emotional reactions of their parents, particularly the dads. Both are, thankfully, first rate.

But, as noted, these are surface similarities. The pleasure in looking at the two together springs from the more significant ways in which they differ.

The screenplay for Scherfig's movie was adapted by novelist Nick Hornby ("High Fidelity," "About a Boy") from a memoir by Lynn Barber. Carey Mulligan, in a star-making performance, plays Jenny, a 16-year-old London schoolgirl, circa 1961, who is determined to win a spot at Oxford, with support (and pressure) from her tradesman father (Alfred Molina, wonderful as always). Smart as a whip, clever, erudite and fluent in French, she is also cute as a button, so it's no big surprise when the 30ish David (Peter Sarsgaard) tries to pick her up. A little more surprising -- and, frankly, a bit appalling -- is that she responds.

She expects objections from her parents, but she underestimates David's charm and resourcefulness. In no time they think he's great, despite the age difference. To the audience, he seems too good to be true, and, of course, he is. There is something overly solicitous and oily about his manner, and the ways he funds the courtship are unsavory and possibly illegal. Jenny lets love push academic ambition to the side, and little signs tip us off that there's danger, heartbreak dead ahead.

"An Education" is entertaining and perceptive, and distinguished by Mulligan's infectious presence. I have not a bad word to say about it . . . and yet I preferred "35 Shots of Rum." Scherfig presents "An Education" in the most comfortable, familiar manner; it's an absolutely straightforward narrative -- essentially the story moves from A to B to C. Nothing wrong with that, particularly when it's so well executed.

Denis, on the other hand, employs a less familiar style, one that is "messier," and the more effective for it. The movie centers on Lionel (Alex Descas), a middle-aged Paris Metro conductor who has raised daughter Jo (Mati Diop) as a solo dad since his wife's death, back when Jo was very young. The two have lived in the same apartment the entire time, and a few other longtime tenants seem almost like family: Noé; (Grégoire Colin) has grown up alongside Jo and may or may not have romantic feelings toward her; Gabrielle (Nicole Dogue) pines for Lionel but has never been able to completely crack the tight father-daughter cocoon.

Where there isn't an unclear detail in "An Education," Denis risks irritating some viewers by refusing to spoon-feed us even a little. There is very little in "35 Shots of Rum" that would count as a "plot." And the narrative is often ambiguous; that is, Denis doesn't go out of her way to explain things at the start. Repeatedly she drops us into a scene and lets us find our way as it progresses.

Several sequences have little to no dialogue but give us a richer, more ambivalent view of the characters and their feelings than anything in "An Education." It's a directorial risk that pays off with an indelible experience. Coming out of Scherfig's film, it's easy to describe just what Jenny and her parents and David are like. It's nearly impossible to do the same with Lionel and Jo. Not because we know less about them, but because we know so much more.

--Andy Klein

Photo: Schooled: Carey Mulligan is Jenny, left, and Peter Sarsgaard is David in "An Education." Credit: Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Classics