MovieChat Forums > A Little Princess (1995) Discussion > Impossible Stunt

Impossible Stunt

posted 18 years ago by BobHatesSpam
12 replies | jump to latest

I'm watching this movie right now, and I just saw a stunt that I think is impossible. Sarah is trying to cross from one building to another, on a plank, and the plank falls out from under her.

I suppose that in past viewings, I just supposed that she was almost across, and was able to catch the ledge before she started falling. But this time, I saw that it clearly shows her free-falling at least a story before she catches a ledge with one hand.

I might believe an exceptionally strong and skilled stuntman being able to do this, but a ten-year-old girl? No way. By the time she'd fallen as far as she is shown falling, she'd be moving fast enough that there's no way that she'd have enough strength in one hand to stop herself even if she could catch a grip of something much more solidly-grippable than the ledge that she is shown catching.

[–] Greysss15 18 years ago

It probably was impossible, but the main purpose of the movie wasn't about special effects and stunts. They probably didn't think about the stunt too much. That scene was more emotional and having Sara fall was just to make it more dramatic. It wasn't the purpose of the scene. It was more about after when she found her dad and was reunited with him.

[–] orchardandrivington 17 years ago

Who gives a flying *beep* honestly? That is SO not what the story's about I find it laughable that you would even make a thread devoted to this.

[–] EsskQ-80 17 years ago

Well the OP is right, it is impossible.
But I didn't really think it was necessary for her to fall like that, maybe just wobble a bit and almost fall at the end but this was a bit over-dramatic.
Unless that's the way it was in the book, but I wouldn't know not having read it.

"Are you sure you want that, butterfly?"

[–] tishtash03 14 years ago

in the book she never has to cross over to the house as miss minchin never finds out about her bedroom.

[–] zigfried-2 16 years ago

Have you ever heard the phrase "suspension of disbelief" ?

It refers to the willingness of a person to accept as true the premises of a work of fiction, even if they are fantastic or impossible. It also refers to the willingness of the audience to overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not interfere with the acceptance of those premises. According to the theory, suspension of disbelief is a quid pro quo: the audience tacitly agrees to provisionally suspend their judgment in exchange for the promise of entertainment.

The late Peter Benchley apparently had a hard time with this when Spielberg was filming the movie of Benchley's novel, JAWS. When Benchley heard that Spielberg was going to have Brody shove a tank into the sharks mouth and then shoot it, thus blowing up the shark, he thought the audience would never buy it. Spielberg told Benchley that by the end of the film, if he couldn't get the audience to believe what he wanted, the film would fail. Benchley later realized that Spielberg was right.

[–] HunterSVonnegut 16 years ago

Of course you have to suspend disbelief especially when the OP missed the point about that scene. It wasn't her ability to get across the plank or grab hold of the ledge as she fell. It was the fact that she could get the plank to the opposite building in the first place. Once it was pushed past a certain point that thing was falling down period. As Hitchcock once said, "It's only a movie."

[–] IDinProgress 10 years ago

I just re-watched this movie last night and that scene ruined it for me. Suspension of Disbelief is exactly why that scene fails to work. Because it rips the viewer out of the reality of the movie and creates a dream reality that is out of sync with the one we were previously watching. There's no way she could have fallen a few feet away from the ledge and be shown going down and then grabbed the ledge like that---with one hand nonetheless. No way. You have to have a story that remains consistent in order for there to be a suspension of disbelief. I feel they cheated in that scene. Her happy ending wasn't earned, and therefore, I can't feel good about it. Cos' she should be dead. She shouldn't be alive. So anything after that scene might as well not have happened.

"Let's not rehash the coroner's report. Let's talk emotions."

[–] SierraLynn15 14 years ago

And finding her room in the attic completely made over with a ton of food and her door still locked is possible???

Perhaps there was a little magic involved.

I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual. - House

[–] stabiljka 12 years ago

I am pretty sure that hindu guy made that while they were sleeping.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] stabiljka 10 years ago

For a smart and rich guy who travelled the world along and across, I don't think it would be a problem. He could simply pay a member or two from the school to do that.

[–] MarblesLove 10 years ago

That's true. I had never thought of that.

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