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Title: "Garden" > "Princess"
Review: "A Little Princess" is a second-rate melodrama for children. It gives us a glimpse of trench warfare in World War I, complete with poison gas. A small but important part of the action takes place in images from East Indian imagination.The movie apparently teaches that make-believe can transform your world and make it wonderful, though the teaching is undercut by the slapstick ending of a comic romance and elopement.Fantasy stories can help us see clearly and prepare us for real life, but I don't think this one does so. After one viewing, the effect was not unlike a large helping of strawberry ice cream in a bowl of beef stew. "Princess" has its good points, so let's give it 3/10 (vs. 6 or 7/10 for "The Secret Garden", which has a better story and fine photography). If you buy "Princess," consider getting the dvd with "The Secret Garden" on the other side.
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