The Secret Garden

Director: Agnieszka Holland Agnieszka Holland

Overview

The 1993 remake of The Secret Garden is a rendition of the classic Frances Hodgon Burnett novel about a young girl (Kate Maberly) who discovers an abandoned garden on her uncle's large Victorian country estate, as well as an invalid cousin she didn't realize she had. With the help of a local boy, the girl sets out to restore the garden and, once it is blooming again, she discovers it has magical powers.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/08/2009
UPC:	0883929084791
Original Release:	1993
Rating:	G
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	3,307

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kate Maberly	Mary Lennox
Maggie Smith	Mrs. Medlock
Heydon Prowse	Colin Craven
Andrew Knott	Dickon
Laura Crossley	Martha
Walter Sparrow	Ben Weatherstaff
Valerie Hill	Actor
Andrea Pickering	Actor
Peter Moreton	Actor
Arthur Spreckley	John
Colin Bruce	Major Lennox
Parsan Singh	Actor
Irène Jacob	Mary's Mother/Lilias Craven
Eileen Page	Grandmother at Dock
Karen Lindsay-Stewart	Actor
Frank Baker	Government Official
David Stoll	Grandfather at Dock
John Lynch	Actor
Zbigniew Preisner	Composer

Technical Credits

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Susan Martin

Menno Meyjes

Caroline Thompson

Agnieszka Holland	Director
Tom Luddy	Producer
Fred Fuchs	Producer
Fred Roos	Producer
Frances Hodgson Burnett	Screenwriter
Susan Martin	Screenwriter
Francis Ford Coppola	Executive Producer
Menno Meyjes	Screenwriter
Caroline Thompson	Screenwriter
Laurie Bernard	Sound Effects
Malcolm Fife	Sound Effects
John Evans	Special Effects
Drew Kunin	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The classic children’s story by Frances Hodgson Burnett is skillfully and enchantingly realized onscreen thanks to the inspired direction of Agnieszka Holland, who never condescends to her audience. In the early 20th century, orphaned Mary Lennox (Kate Maberly) is sent to live in Misselthwaite Manor, the gloomy, forbidding Yorkshire estate of her frequently absent uncle (John Lynch). Away from the prying eyes of stern housekeeper Mrs. Medlock (Maggie Smith), Mary befriends a maid’s son, Dickon (Andrew Knott), with whom she explores long-forgotten passageways, one of them leading to a secret garden. Misselthwaite holds more than one secret, though: Mary learns that she has a cousin, Colin (Heydon Prowse), the invalid son of her late aunt. Their clandestine meetings and covert explorations have unexpected consequences, and under Holland’s direction their excursions to the secret garden prepared by Colin’s mother take on great importance. We always get the feeling that there is much more to Misselthwaite than we are being told (or shown), and this air of mystery makes the The Secret Garden seem like a latter-day fairy tale. The garden’s magical quality is enhanced by the gorgeous cinematography of Roger Deakins, and Holland’s direction hints that it has a restorative effect of those who frolic within its confines. It’s rare these days to find movies that stimulate the sense of wonder without resorting to the obvious trickery of computer-generated imaging. This one creates, with seeming effortlessness, a dreamlike atmosphere that will draw you into the story and hold you tightly in its spell.