A Little Princess
THE WINNER OF LAST WEEK'S MOVIE GIVEAWAY OF ARSENIC AND OLD LACE IS....
MADELINE!
Congratulations, Madeline! I will be contacting you shortly to get your mailing address so I can send you your movie!
"I am a princess!""Oh?""All girls are! Even if they live in tiny old attics, even if they dress in rags, even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young, they're still princesses - all of us! Didn't your father ever tell you that? Didn't he?"
Today's movie is one of those rare instances where I cannot decide whether I love the book or the movie better. The book is one of my favorites, and I have read it many times. But the movie fills a slight hole in my heart that the book is content to leave gaping and raw. And for that, perhaps I appreciate and prefer the movie... just slightly more than the book.Meet Sarah Crewe and her wealthy father, Captain Crewe. Sarah has grown up in India, where her father has been able to give her all the nicest things in life. But instead of making Sarah snobbish, she has learned generosity and compassion for everyone. When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, Sarah is left at a boarding house where her mother once went to school.Sarah is not used to learning in a classroom, and her peculiarities and vivid imagination do nothing to endear her to the strict headmistress, who has no patience for flights of fancy or anyone who doesn't toe the line with cookie-cutter behavior. But she tolerates Sarah for the sake of her father's fortune and generosity to the school. However, when Sarah's father goes missing and is presumed dead, everything changes.Forced to become a servant, forbidden to speak with her former friends, and living in rags in a freezing garret room, can Sarah continue to believe that there is magic still?This is one of those movies that makes me cry every time I see it. There is also the beautiful story-within-a-story device that is used so poignantly to highlight Sarah's own journey and the difficulties she faces. (I told you I love that device!)This is one of those movies where everything in it just... works. From the acting, to the sets, to the dialogue, to the variation in the color palette between the "real world" of the boarding school and the "story" that Sarah is telling, to the music, to the beautiful, heart-wrenching plot that ties it all together... if you've never watched this one, it is a must-see! (The ending is good, I promise. No Bridge to Terabithia-style ending for this movie... though I guarantee you'll need a box of tissues... for very different reasons)
A Little Princess is available to rent on iTunes, Amazon, Youtube, Vudu, and Google Play.