The Secret Garden (1993)

Director:

Agnieszka Holland

Writers (WGA):

Frances Hodgson Burnett (book)
Caroline Thompson (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 August 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Tagline:

The timeless tale of a special place where magic, hope and love grow.

Plot:

A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle...

Plot Keywords:

Garden | Earthquake | England | Secret | India

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Kate Maberly	...	Mary Lennox
Heydon Prowse	...	Colin Craven
Andrew Knott	...	Dickon
Maggie Smith	...	Mrs. Medlock
Laura Crossley	...	Martha
John Lynch	...	Lord Archibald Craven
Walter Sparrow	...	Ben Weatherstaff
Irène Jacob	...	Mary's Mother / Lilias Craven (as Irene Jacob)
Frank Baker	...	Government Official
Valerie Hill	...	Cook
Andrea Pickering	...	Betty Butterworth
Peter Moreton	...	Will
Arthur Spreckley	...	John
Colin Bruce	...	Major Lennox
Parsan Singh	...	Ayah

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Netherlands:MG6 | France:U | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. | Peru:PT | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:U | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Allerton Park, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Company:

American Zoetrope

Trivia:

The tapestries in Mary's room comprise a cycle known as "The Hunt for the Unicorn". In this cycle, the Unicorn is lured from the wild and into a new life by a young virgin, foreshadowing Mary's role in the story.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the final scene where Mary, Colin, and Lord Craven are dancing and skipping, there is a big storm cloud behind the hills, in the next scene, when Dickon and his pony ride up to the mansion, the sun is shining brightly between the trees with no storm in sight.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mary: My name is Mary Lennox. I was born in India. It was hot, and strange, and lonely in India. I didn't like it. Nobody by my servant, my ayah, looked after me. My parents didn't want me. My mother cared only to go to parties. And my father was busy with his military duties. I was never allowed to go to the parties. I watched them from my mother's bedroom window. I was angry, but I never cried. I didn't know how to cry.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in What Love Is (2007)

Soundtrack:

Mistress Mary Quite Contrary

An utter delight

This movie is an utter delight to watch. I have probably seen it a dozen times, and I never get tired of it. Everything about it is perfect: it's well-directed, well-acted, beautifully filmed, has great music, and the script and story are wonderful.

Agneiszka Holland does an outstanding job directing this film. Each character is separate and unique; each one has little personality quirks that makes it seem real. Just about every scene in the movie includes children, animals, or both -- which must have been a nightmare to coordinate. Ms. Holland pulls it off without a hitch. Everything melds perfectly, and we are transported to a distant place and time, and fall in love with real, human characters.

The primary three characters in this story -- Mary Lennox, Colin Craven, and Dickon -- are all children, played by actors who are around 10 years old. Ordinarily having one child in a movie is difficult enough, but again, somehow they pull it off. All three kids -- especially Kate Maberly -- do a fine job of acting, and they are quite credible. Kate is simply divine as Mary Lennox, and Heydon Prowse was a good counter-point to her as Colin.

The story is touching and charming, and I think you'd have to be almost inhuman not to have a tear in your eye by the end of it. I absolutely fell in love with these children, and came to care very much about their characters. The "secret garden" really does seem to be a magical place (and I will say no more about it, since otherwise that would spoil things), and at the end I found myself wishing I could go and visit it first-hand. The accompanying music is wonderful -- I find myself humming it for days and days after watching it.

In short, everything comes together to make this film a masterpiece. It is easily one of the 10 or 12 best movies ever made, perhaps *the* best movie ever made. I love it so much that I went out and bought the DVD of it, even though I'd seen it 8 or 10 times already. If you have not seen it I give it my highest possible recommendation. My score: 10/10.