The Education of Jane Cumming
A student accuses her teachers of a same-sex affair in this luminous drama based on an early-19th-century case that scandalised Scotland’s justice system.
Edinburgh, 1810: wealthy aristocrat Lady Cumming Gordon arrives at a new girls’ boarding school, wishing to enrol her illegitimate teenage granddaughter Jane. When Jane – born to an Indian mother – is bullied by her peers for her dark skin, progressive teachers Miss Pirie and Miss Woods take her under their wings. But the close bond that develops leads to complicated feelings of jealousy, and a shift in the trio’s dynamic instigates an accusation by Jane that will alter the course of the teachers’ lives.
This dramatisation of the true story that inspired Lillian Hellman's famous play The Children's Hour – which in turn was adapted into the 1961 William Wyler film of the same name starring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine – deals frankly with the layers of intersectional power that impacted the real-life events behind it. Up-and-comer Mia Tharia (also starring in Taika Waititi’s upcoming adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun) gives a deftly nuanced performance as Jane, while Fiona Shaw is in typically fine form as the acerbic and haughty Lady Cumming Gordon. Aftersun (MIFF 2022) fans will also be delighted to spot Frankie Corio in a supporting role.
“Easily the most satisfying screen outing yet for this story material: a classically well-made and affectingly performed period drama.” – Variety
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