There are several blondes sitting poolside at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, but most of them are bikini-clad and not here on business. Even in sunglasses and long blonde tresses, Lone Scherfig is clearly the odd-woman-out in this quintessentially SoCal setting. In town for the premiere of “An Education,” her delightful, knowing, funny coming-of-age story that ought to be on everybody’s Oscar shortlists, the Danish director handles her promotional chores with a kind of unassuming eloquence she shares with her film.
Set in a distinctly non-swinging London in those gray days before the Beatles helped change everything, “An Education” follows a teenaged schoolgirl (Carey Mulligan) who falls under the spell of an older, cultured man played by Peter Sarsgaard. Written by British novelist Nick Hornby, the film is a distinct change for Scherfig, whose earlier films, among them “Italian for Beginners” and “Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself,” were associated with the rigorous, radical Dogme 95 movement co-founded by Lars von Trier. (Scherfig photo by Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Classics)
From the premiere last night at the Egyptian to poolside at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, this has been quite the Hollywood experience for you.
I know, I know. I love the neon, and the architecture, and people driving by in those huge cars. I’d be an idiot if I didn’t enjoy this. Of course you are nervous, but now there’s not so much to be nervous about, because we can’t change the film, and it’s sold all over the world. I think the strategy of going to Sundance, and then both Berlin and Telluride, was right. The fact that it was sold all over the world before the crisis took off in this business was good.
How are you dealing with the Oscar talk, the awards buzz?
I’m really happy for Carey, because it means that she will get better scripts, and get the attention she deserves. And Alfred Molina, too, because he was so disciplined and diligent and humble. He felt at home in the script, and he immediately got the combination of humor and fragility and sadness. I think he did a brilliant job, and he deserves the praise he’s getting.
What did you do to feel at home in the script? Obviously, it’s not a country you grew up in, or a period that you were old enough to remember.
I was in England a couple of years later, just a little bit. And I’ve shot things that took place in the late ‘50s, so I’ve researched the period. But that was in Denmark, and England is really a very different place. It’s not just that they drive on the other side of the street – it really is an island.
So I researched more than normally. And the art department did a lot for everyone. I knew that a lot of the cast members also wouldn’t feel at home in that period, so in order to take them on a guided tour, we had rooms with pictures all over the place.
