Cuaron’s first Hollywood project is shot like a fairy tale, adopting a child’s imaginative perspective, as she must try to find a way to adapt to worsening personal circumstances in a boarding school run by a mean-spirited headmistress.
Review #3,010
Dir. Alfonso Cuaron
1995 | USA | Drama, Fantasy | 97min | 1.85:1 | English & French
PG (passed clean)
Cast: Liesel Matthews, Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, Rusty Schwimmer, Vanessa Lee Chester
Plot: When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara’s creativity and sense of self-worth.
Awards: Nom. for 2 Oscars – Best Cinematography & Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Distributor: Warner
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Boarding School; Strict Headmistress; Imagination & Self-Worth
Narrative Style: Straightforward
Pace: Normal
Audience Type: Mainstream
Viewed: Netflix
Spoilers: No
Way before the success of movies like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and Gravity (2013), Alfonso Cuaron entered Hollywood studio filmmaking with A Little Princess, his sophomore feature.
Bringing on board his DP Emmanuel Lubezki from his first feature, the now-famous three-time Oscar-winner earned his very first Oscar nomination here.
Shot like a fairy tale in a New York filled with a growing pool of poor, hungry people, A Little Princess takes a child’s imaginative perspective as she, Sara, tries to cope with a new life in a strict boarding school when her father has to leave to fight with the British army in WWI.
Their old life together was in India, where myths and moral tales kept Sara in the escapism of fantasy. Restricted by Miss Minchin, the boarding school’s eternally perturbed headmistress, Sara must find a way to adapt to worsening personal circumstances.
A Little Princess should delight children, both visually and narratively. It’s not difficult to understand, and Cuaron opts for exuberant, colourful interludes as Sara, the impressive storyteller that she is, brings her peers to new worlds.
“I’m a princess. All girls are.”
Adults may also find Cuaron’s film to be mildly contemplative inasmuch as it asks us to think about what kind of environment we want to nurture kids in and cultivate their approach to life.
In all honesty, there is no right answer, although A Little Princess naturally adopts the child’s perspective—one that is full of hope, compassion and lots of luck.
Yet, as mean-spirited as Miss Minchin is, she is not entirely wrong in wanting the kids in her ward to be disciplined and in tune with practical realities.
The characters don’t know that the Great Depression is around the corner, and tougher times will await everyone. The sooner children become more mature, the better, just like the kid in Bicycle Thieves (1948). But they must first believe in themselves, just like Sara.
Grade: B+
Trailer:
Music:
Eternality Tan 