I just realized why they changed the setting to New York. It's World War 1 and England is in the war, so why would Crewe send his child to a school there? I mean, the school might get bombed or something. It makes perfect sense for her to go to America, which wasn't in the war in 1914. That explains the, "It's safer" line at the beginning.
I love familiar stories. They're the best.
Actually, during WWI, there were no bombers so I can't see that as a reason for sending a child to the U.S. instead of keeping the child in London where this story makes more sense.
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America put the "fun" back into "Fundamentalism".
i didn't really mean bombing. i mean, he probably expected that London might be under German occupation or something, it being on the same continent as Germany.
I love familiar stories. They're the best.
I guess he still thought it was safer being more out of the way and generally less involved with the war? Also her mother went there.
shareActually, during WWI, there were no bombers
Well, the time and place aren't really consistent in the plays/movies.
The book took place in Victorian times, before WWI happened.
In the 1939 movie her father fought in the Boer war in South Africa and she went to a British school.
In this version the timing is 20 years later, her father fights in WWI in Europe and she goes to an American school.
I think they changed it because Americans know more about WWI and can relate to an American setting.
He sent her there because her mother went to school there. DUH.
shareThere was actually no war in the original book. So it was just made up in the movie to have the school in the US.
shareI thought it was just because her mother went there...
sharethat school that her mother went to is in england. they are an english family. thats why the school should be in england
shareActually in the book Sara's mother was French, which was why Sara could speak French so well.
But yes, the setting should have been London, as in the book. Or if they really wanted the setting to be America they should have changed the Crewes' nationality to American. At the beginning of WWI an English gentleman would as soon have sent his daughter to school in Peking or Timbuctoo as in America. (That is, if he were living in America himself he might have brought her with him and found her a school nearby; but there is no way he would have packed her off across the Atlantic.)
I don't know why they had to change ANYTHING.
shareI agree, and probably would have been kinda pissed off if they changed their entire nationality as well.
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According to the producer, studios in the early 90's put a lot of pressure on children's film adaptations to Americanise British books, believing that American children would not be able to relate to British children.
shareYes, keep in mind this was the pre-Harry Potter era--in fact, IIRC Steven Spielburg wanted to Americanize the famous boy wizard, when he was briefly in competition for the rights. *shudders with horror* It may only have been JK Rowling's considerable creative control and clout that prevented this from happening with the finished films, and didn't seem to hurt their BO take one iota!
shareWW1 was primarily a European war (as was WW2 up to a point), so it doesn't make sense why they'd travel all the way over to USA when there were safe places in the UK (where other children were evacuated to).
Obviously the American producers wanted to stamp their mark on a British story. Or perhaps if there's nothing American in the film, the American public won't be interested in it.
I really like this film anyway. Aside from their accents, there was nothing American about the setting - very British indeed.
Agreed. Though the film took place in America, it had a very Victorian sensibility. Perhaps that sensibility was a bit anachronistic, but it was clear how the book was trying to capture the spirit of Burnett's work. During the outdoor scenes as Sara is working as a servant, New York looks very much like Dickensian London: moody, gritty, and unpleasant.
I think the setting changes were unnecessary, as the book is distinctly British, but I don't think they necessarily detract from the story, either.
A pity that the makers did not have anyone who knows English. "Sara" would not pronounce Papa and Mama like that but with the emphasis on the first syllable. Nor would she say "Someplace" but "Somewhere". If it gets people to read the book, good. People who have read the book will not like this version.
share