Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

The Secret Garden (1993)

Director: Agnieszka Holland

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Frances Hodgson Burnett's much-loved children's novel could all too easily come across on screen as the last word in period fustian, but the unforced approach of Holland and scriptwriter Caroline Thompson pierces to the emotional core of a still potent tale. Shipped back from colonial India to the inhospitable Yorkshire manor of her reclusive hunchback uncle (Lynch), orphan Mary Lennox (newcomer Maberly) tangles petulantly with the no-nonsense housekeeper (Smith). Even so, the spoilt girl's rebelliousness soon distils into a recuperative influence over her bedridden cousin Colin (Prowse) when she begins to tend the long-neglected walled garden tucked away in the grounds. With well-judged performances played straight, and topical subtexts (Green consciousness, the dysfunctional family), this 'children's' film sets no age limit on its potential audience.

Author: TJ 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Agnieszka Holland

Producer: Fred Roos, Tom Luddy, Fredric S Fuchs

Cast: Maggie Smith, John Lynch, Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott, Laura Crossley full cast

Genre(s): Children's

Duration: 100 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.