"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Saturday, August 27, 2016

A Little Princess (1995, G)

For starters, let me admit that I’ve never read A Little Princess, so I don’t know how much this film adaptation deviates from the book (a lot, I hear.)  It’s possible that, if I read it, the movie would lose some of its shine for me, but I have my doubts about that.  First, regardless of the original story told by the book, the story the movie tells is lovely and excellently-told, and second, I’ve loved this movie since I was a kid, and that’s a bias that’s hard to mess with (a few spoilers, by necessity.)

When her father has to join the fight during WWI, bold, imaginative Sara is sad to leave her home in India, and even sadder to part with him.  However, at the New York boarding school where he brings her, Sara is soon causing a commotion.  She doesn’t accept something is true just because an adult says it, she speaks her mind, and her stories of magic and romance, while a hit among the students, don’t jibe with the strict Miss Minchin’s ordered way of life.  A sudden tragedy drastically changes Sara’s circumstances, and she struggles to maintain her belief in the wonderful and impossible as her new life threatens to grind her down.

Nitpicks first.  Most of the child actors definitely feel like child actors, and even Liesel Matthews, who plays Sara, sometimes gives off an air of reciting her lines instead of saying them.  That said, everyone does a decent job, and Sara’s charm, spark, and heroism shines through the vast majority of the time.  Some of the humor gets a bit kiddish at times, but it’s not bad.  (This is the furthest I can go in criticizing it.  See, I told you I love this movie!)

But the good is so good.  I first saw this film nearly a decade before I knew who Alfonso Cuarón was, but his direction is topnotch as he deftly moves between changes in tone – the delightful, heartbreaking, touching, triumphant, suspenseful, funny, and magical moments all come off just as they should.  As usual, Emmanuel Lubezki is on hand to make the cinematography look amazing.

All the themes, from making your world how you choose to see it, to the love of a true friend, are beautifully explored and just what an 8-year-old girl needed when she saw this in the movie theater 21 years ago.  I love watching Sara at every point in her journey:  confidently forging her own path, losing sight of herself, and finding her way back again.  I also love her gorgeous relationship with her lovely father (Liam Cunningham, who I’ll always adore because of this role) and the easy way she nurtures friendships with some of the sad and lonely girls at the school, scarcely aware that she’s giving them exactly what they need.  I’m biased toward Becky (her reaction to the “feast” is the cutest thing ever,) but Ermengarde and Lottie are great, too.

Also?  Let’s be real.  “I am a princess.  All girls are.  Even if they live in tiny old attics.  Even if they dress in rags.  Even if they aren’t pretty, or smart, or young.  They’re still princesses.  All of us.”  Come on!  I defy you to tell me that’s not awesome.

Warnings

A few scary scenes, thematic elements, and a war scene (no fighting, just aftermath.)

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