Professor Pfinklepfunder's $1 Sunday Family Films
Directed by Agnieszka Holland
With Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse, Dame Maggie Smith
Rated G, 101 minutes, Blu-ray
Frances Hodgson Burnett published The Secret Garden now well over a century ago, but it remains a story revisited, beloved, and often adapted in new ways. In this adaptation, Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland pivoted from her previous two films so nice they named them twice (Europa, Europa and Oliver, Oliver) to a singular garden and lighter fare. After an earthquake leaves her without her parents, the young Brit Mary (Kate Maberly) leaves India to live with her uncle Lord Archibald Craven at his sprawling mansion (shot at Yorkshire's Allerton Castle). Largely unattended, she adventures around the place finding both new friends and the titular secret garden.
Sponsored by the Meg and John P. Brogan Endowment for Classic Cinema.
Originally published at arts.nd.edu.