The Secret Garden (DVD)

Agnieszka Holland is one of my favourite directors. Her best films were perhaps the ones made in Poland which were not subject to any kind of a big promotion abroad, but some people might know her from excellent 'Europa, Europa' or (much less excellent but probably better known due to the appearance of Pretty Leo 'Total Eclipse'). 'Secret Garden' was made in 1993 and is an adaptation of a definite children's classic by Frances Hodgson Burnett. As far as faithfulness of the adaptation goes, it is neither exactly faithful, nor departed from the novel enough to be treated as 'based on'. The story, the crucial characters and the main moral are all present, but ...

After her parents die suddenly, spoilt rich girl Mary Lennox is sent from India to the wilds of England to live in a stately home owned by her Uncle. Her Uncle, however, does not seem keen to have much to do with her, having recently lost his wife, so Mary is left to entertain herself, with only servant Martha and miserable housekeeper Mrs Medlock to talk to. Bored, she soon finds something to occupy her - the existence of a walled garden that has become sadly overgrown following the death of her Aunt. With the help of Martha's brother Dickon, Mary starts to bring it back to life. She also finds out that she has a cousin - Colin - who is deemed a cripple. Will Mary's ...

Frances Hodgson-Burnett, author of The Secret Garden, wouldn't exactly have turned in her grave over this film, but I can bet she would have been tapping her foot over this all too charming adaptation. The central character of the book is a small, sullen child called Mary (played by Kate Maberly). Losing her family to the cholera virus whilst living in India (sorry, that's the book version, in the film it's an earthquake), she is forced to leave for England to stay with her mother's brother, Lord Craven, whom she's never met (played by Jon Lynch). The story is set around what happens to her when she's arrived in the land of her ...