The Secret Garden | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Agnieszka Holland |
Produced by |
Fred Fuchs Tom Luddy Fred Roos |
Screenplay by | Caroline Thompson |
Based on |
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett |
Starring | |
Music by | Zbigniew Preisner |
Cinematography |
Roger Deakins Jerzy Zielinski |
Edited by | Isabelle Lorente |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Warner Bros. Family Entertainment |
Release date
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Running time
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102 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Box office | $31.2 million |
The Secret Garden is a 1993 British drama fantasy film directed by Agnieszka Holland and starring Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott, John Lynch and Maggie Smith. It was written by Caroline Thompson and based on the novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett. There are two previous film adaptations: a 1949 US drama film; and the screen adaptation as a silent version filmed in 1919, which starred Lila Lee and Spottiswoode Aitken.
During the Edwardian Era, recently orphaned Mary Lennox is sent from her home in India to her uncle Lord Archibald Craven's mansion, Misselthwaite Manor, in Yorkshire, England. Unloved and neglected by her late parents, who were killed in an earthquake, she is a cold, unpleasant girl, unhappy in her new surroundings. Head housekeeper Mrs. Medlock informs Mary she will not be spoiled as she was in India and that her uncle, who spends extended periods of time away from the Manor, will likely not see her. Mary is ordered not to leave her room, but strange noises lead her to explore the mansion on her own. Mrs. Medlock eventually allows her to play outside to keep her from poking about the house. In the expansive grounds of the Manor, Mary discovers her late aunt's garden, which was locked and neglected since her accidental death ten years prior.
Martha Sowerby, a maid, and her brother, Dickon, a nature-loving boy who can "talk" to animals, befriend Mary. Fascinated by the "secret garden," Mary enlists Dickon to help her bring it back to life, gradually becoming a more friendly, happy child in the process. When finally introduced to her uncle, Mary is apprehensive, knowing he was responsible for locking up the secret garden. Fearful he would do it again, Mary evasively asks to plant seeds in an "unwanted" part of the Manor, to which Lord Craven grants permission before leaving the country for the rest of the year. Confident that the garden will remain a secret, Mary and Dickon continue their work.