The Secret Garden (1993)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

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 | Secret | Earthquake | England | 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 | UK

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 corridor leading to Colin's room and the interior of the room are decorated with tapestries depicting Edward VI, a sickly boy king who died young at the age of 16.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mary finds the key to the garden, in a room obviously untouched for many years, she leaves the key facing to the back, head to the right, later when she comes back for it, it is facing to the front of the drawer, its head to the left.

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 amazingly touching film

Ah, the many memories I have with The Secret Garden, I have to admit it, when I was a kid, I had this group of girlfriends and we always thought it would be so cool if we discovered a garden just like the children in this movie did. As silly as that sounds, the movie really got our imaginations going. Of course you grow up and you forget a little bit about the movies that you used to watch as a kid. But I was looking at the five dollar bin at Wal Mart and found The Secret Garden, I figured since I hadn't seen it in a while that I could check it out once again and still I think I have a special love for this magical story about bringing life back into a dead world.

The recently-orphaned Mary Lennox travels from her home in India to her uncle Archibald Craven's hundred-room house, Misselthwaite Manor. Mary, materially spoiled but emotionally neglected by her late parents, is rather unpleasant and unhappy in her new surroundings. Martha, a Yorkshire girl working as a maid, and her brother Dicken, a boy who can talk to animals, befriend and help her to heal and grow. She discovers her deceased aunt's secret garden, which has been locked for ten years and enlists Dickon to help her bring it to life. Hidden away in the gloomy house is Mary's cousin Colin, who has been treated all his life like a fragile, sickly invalid. This exaggeration has augmented what smaller problems he did have, turning him into a demanding, short-tempered, helpless boy. Mary, defying the orders of Mrs Medlock, discovers Colin and is taken aback by his disposition, but reaches out to him anyway. Soon Colin, Mary, and Dickon all spend their time in the secret garden. They perform magic, and make the garden live again.

The Secret Garden is always going to hold a special place in my heart, I absolutely adore this film and it brings back so many wonderful memories from my childhood. The children that they found to play Mary, Dicken and Colin were absolutely perfect and were great actors actually, I'm surprised they didn't move onto bigger things in their careers, but they had great chemistry and really brought the movie to life. The settings are gorgeous, the garden that the children created was so lovely and reminds me about all the wonderful things that spring brings, life. If you haven't seen The Secret Garden, I highly recommend that you do, it's a very special film that I'm sure you'll fall in love with as well.

8/10