(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 13 - A magical story of emotional rebirth, which addresses issues such as the confrontation with mourning and the depth of hidden trauma.
It is Il Giardino Segreto, cult of children's literature, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett (also author of The Little Lord), published for the first time in 1909 and adapted several times by cinema, TV and theater.
27 years after the last film version, signed in 1993 by Agnieszka Holland, the story returns in a new film (also the origin of a new literary release with Dea).
Marc Munden signs it with a cast of very young performers composed of Dixie Egerickx for the protagonist Mary, Dan Hayhurst and AmirWilson.
Joining them are Colin Firth, in the role of Archibald, Mary's mysterious and solitary uncle, who never got over his wife's death, and Julie Walters, in the role of an efficient and apparently icy housekeeper.
The feature film, which arrived with Lucky Red in association with 3Marys Entertainment on Amazon Prime Video, reworks the plot, condensing the gothic tone into a more current form (there are some ghosts), giving the story a wider breath, also reflected in the visual approach, of the rendering of the garden, for which the director has avoided the digital effects of the studio, favoring shooting from life.
"Seen through the little girl's eyes, she has something really monstrous," she explains of her character Firth, in the production notes.
"He's a man who has forgotten about others, or at least silenced them. He has caused everyone enormous harm by projecting out of himself the disgust he feels for himself. And his son is the first victim of this self-centered depression. man".
A new performance, built with a few scenes of great intensity, that of the actor, which in 2021 we could find in competition for the Oscars with another highly anticipated film, after its debut in international festivals, Supernova by HarryMacqueen.
In the plot is Sam, a musician who decides to go and see friends and relatives together with his partner for 20 years, Tusker (Stanley Tucci, given among the favorites for a nomination among non-starring actors) who has been diagnosed with a rare early form of dementia.
(HANDLE).