The Secret Garden (1987)
When a spoiled English girl living in 19th century India loses both parents in a cholera epidemic, she is sent back to England to live in a country mansion. The lord is a strange old man-- frail and deformed, immensely kind but so melancholy. She wishes to discover what has caused him so much sorrow and to bring joy back to the household. It all must have something to do with the screams and wails which echo through the house at night and no one wants to talk about.
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Thanks for the memories!
Admirable film.
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film
Whilst I have to agree with many of the criticisms of other reviewers I did find this movie quite enjoyable. But why on earth did they use American kids to play Mary, Dickon and Colin, Gennie James was one of my favourite child actresses of the eighties but she couldn't hide her American accent, and as for Barret Oliver, he had the weirdest accent I have ever heard, I will however give 6 out of 10 for a brave attempt by Jadrien Stelle. The accent problem was not confined to the American cast members, Martha is supposed to be a local Yorkshire girl but spoke with a Cockney accent. I also think the start and end sequences were totally unnecessary, also making Colin and Mary unrelated quite spoilt things. My vote for the best version would have be for the 1975 BBC adaptation although this may not have been seen in the USA.Another reviewer asks how Colin joined the army when he needed to use a walking stick, he obviously missed the point that Colin had been injured in the war and had just left hospital
I LOVE this version of the movie. I was probably 4 or 5 when I first saw it. I can only assume that I caught it on television and recorded it after that....and SURE, it isn't like the book in MANY ways, but it is still a very good movie with great acting. If you take is as it is and not as you expect it to be (like the book), then you see just how great this movie is. How many movies now a days is exactly like the original story, anyway? I really dislike when someone discounts a movie as good or great just because it is nothing like the original story. This is why the movie makes state that it is BASED on the novel, not a direct rendition of such.I will forever love this movie and have come to wonder why I haven't bought the DVD yet.
I disagree with the other review of this movie. It is not the best book-to-movie adaption but it's a cute movie. I watched it all the time as a kid and thought this version was much better than the newer one. The acting is pretty good, I think the kids understood their parts, and played up the brattiness I always loved/hated about them. Also, seeing Colin Firth at the end as a grown up Colin Craven doesn't hurt it any. While the plot deviates somewhat from the book I think it kept the spirit of the story well enough. The musical score was also fantastic and leant a lot to atmosphere of the story. If you love this book and haven't seen this version, I highly recommend checking it out, especially if you have children.
I've seen in awhile. Unbelievable. This film will be in my children's collection for generations. Gennie had alot of promise as you can see in other films such as Broadcast News and Places in the Heart, I wish we could have seen more.