A Little Princess

National Catholic Reporter, July 14, 1995 by Joseph Cunneen

The title of "A Little Princess" (Warner) is a bit off-putting, and its source, the well-known story by Frances Hodgson Burnett, might seem aimed only at those who identify with upperclass England. Fortunately, Mexicanborn director Alfonso Cuaron and screenwriters Richard LaGravenese and Elizabeth Chandler have moved the central action to early 20th century New York.

"A Little Princess" begins in a charmingly artificial India where the young Sara Crewe (Liesel Matthews) and her widowed father (Liam Cunningham) are surrounded by a colorful world of myth. The outbreak of World War I interrupts this idyll. They sail to America, enhancing the fairy-tale atmosphere by dancing on the deck of their ocean liner. Capt. Crewe drops his daughter off at a New York girl's school presided over by the rigid Miss Minchin (Eleanor Bron) before rushing on to battle.

Miss Minchin's endeavor to produce refined young women without a trace of spontaneity makes her a perfect antagonist for Sara, who gradually wins over most of the students through her storytelling ability.

At first her father's wealth earns Sara a degree of indulgence from Miss Minchin, though the headmistress severely reproves Sara's attempts to communicate with Becky, the young, black scullery maid (Vanessa Lee Chester). Later, after Capt. Crewe is reported killed in action and his wealth is confiscated, Sara is relegated to the attic. She needs Becky's encouragement to recover her faith in the power of daydreams.

Production designer Bo Welch has a great deal to do with the movie's success: The school building is made forbiddingly green, the New York streets full of telling reminders of urban poverty.

"All women are princesses," says Sara's Indian nurse early in the movie. "It's our fate." Some may find that treacly at first, but after observing how Sara's lively independence helps the other students to bond against Miss Minchin's tyranny, it appears the nurse was right. "A Little Princess" is a healthy inoculation against deadly forms of adult "realism."