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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