MovieChat Forums > A Little Princess (1995) Discussion > I really wanted to love this movie, but....

I really wanted to love this movie, but... (some spoilers)

posted 14 years ago by There_Will_Be_Plainview
4 replies | jump to latest

...maybe I'm just a cold-hearted bastard, but the experience was like having a bucket of sugar dumped on my head. I usually love touching movies when handled right. I cried during "The Elephant Man," "Dear Zachary," and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," but I had so many problems with "A Little Princess."

On the plus-side, the visuals were absolutely stunning. The cinematography and art direction (as well as Cuaron's direction itself) were perfect. Sadly, the rest of the movie was not.

First of all, the acting was terrible. The lead actress gave a pretty bad performance, and all of the dialogue felt forced. When Sarah is talking to the little girl about angels, I felt like throwing up because of how sugary everything sounded. Sentiment is okay in the right doses, but this movie was far too sentimental and manipulative. The supporting performances range from okay to terrible, with the kitchen cook giving what I thought to be an atrocious performance.

Another problem I had was suspending disbelief. Yes, the film contains many fantasy elements, but just because there is a fantasy world, doesn't mean that everything goes. For example, when Sarah is running away near the end, I literally rolled my eyes when she fell off the plank and managed to hold onto the ledge with her bare hands and hoist herself up. Another excruciating thing was the way Miss Minchin treated Sarah. It just seemed way over the top evil (throws her in a room right after she finds out her father dies), and totally unbelievable. Some of the directorial choices involved with Minchin were interesting and well executed (e.g. lightning, candelabra), but I kept thinking "are you serious?" with her character.

Finally, the film seemed to try to create mystery with the father character by putting a bandage over his eyes for a good chunk of the movie. Come on! Were we really not supposed to figure out who it was from the moment he's visited on his sick-bed?

I love fantasy of all kinds, happy endings, children movies, and feel-good films, but this one missed the mark for me. It was so cloying and had some very poor acting, and a mediocre screenplay with cheesy dialogue. I'd like to hear if anyone here agrees with me, because by reading IMDB and critical consensus, I'm shocked that very few people actually see this film's faults.

5/10

Check out my film reviews: www.paleyfilms.net

[–] syntinen 14 years ago

It sounds as though you'd much prefer the original book.

We think of the Victorians as being sentimental, and modern society as being hard-nosed, realistic and willing to call a spade a spade - but Hollywood evidently reckons that modern audiences can't hack the emotional toughness and the social and psychological realism of Frances Hodgson Burnett's book.

They decided they couldn't have the heroine's father really die, so he has to turn up alive for a happy ending.

In the book, when Sara goes from richest, best-dressed, star pupil to despised, shabby skivvy most of the pupils turn against her (which of course is exactly what real children would do) and only a couple of her best friends stick by her. But in the film it's the opposite - all the girls except the really nasty, jealous ones still love and help her, which would never happen in real life.

And, of course, the book ends with Sara restored to her "natural", "proper" place in society as a rich young lady, and the happy ending for Becky is to be that rich young lady's maid - which is the most that a skivvy in Victorian or Edwardian London could possibly dream of. But in the film no, Becky is going to be Sara's adopted sister and a lady herself, and to h*ll with plausibility.

[–] silverwhistle 14 years ago

I think it's a pity the excellent 1970s BBC adaptation isn't available on DVD. I loved it as a kid, having already loved the book. Sara was a great inspiration as I struggled through social isolation and bullying at school.

Seingner Conrat, tot per vostr'amor chan
http://www.silverwhistle.co.uk/knightlife

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] velcronewsletter 11 years ago

miss minchin is pretty much the same in the book. that bit about sara shouting at her 'didn't your father call you a princess' isn't in the book (if i recall correctly) and there is no backstory on her and definitely no wiping away of tears like it is in the film so if anything, they made her character a tiny bit more sympathetic in the film. that should tell you how mean she was in the book. her character was believable in that sense in that she was portrayed almost as true to the book

-----------------------------------------

let's not go to camelot, it is a silly place