Looking back into 'The Secret Garden'...

I first saw this film in 1999, at school camp. It was on a scratchy VHS, and many of kids that saw it with me were openly mocking and scornful of the film. Being a kid with an imagination that rarely sat still, I found it rather dull.

But then I revisited The Secret Garden about two months ago, and I find myself adopting a completely new outlook on the film. It's a film that stands apart from other family films. I find myself loving the characters all over again - Mary, Dickon, Colin, Lord Craven... there's a brilliant subtlety to all the actors, and for the main characters being so young, they did a dynamite job conveying the feelings of loss and isolation. Except for Andrew Knott's Dickon, of course, who did a great job as the friend of all living things.

The film is not immediately humorous or even fast-moving, but I applaud all children who see the film for the first time and love it, rather than my initial failure. Everything about the film is a triumph - the beautiful score, the tender message at the core of the story, the cinematography... The Secret Garden is by and large the best children's film I've ever seen, and even the term 'children's film' doesn't do it justice; it is truly a film that can ring true for people of all ages.

Thanks for reading my thoughts!

Treachery is the way of the Sith...