What filmmaking techniques does A Little Princess use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in A Little Princess (1995): Color Palette as Worldbuilding, Production Design as Psychological Space, Story Within Story Framing, Protective Fiction and Earned Catharsis.

Who directed A Little Princess?

Alfonso Cuarón directed A Little Princess, released in 1995. CineCode also covers Great Expectations (1998), Y Tu Mamá También (2001), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Children of Men (2006), Gravity (2013), Roma (2018).

What films are similar to A Little Princess?

Films that share techniques with A Little Princess include Pan's Labyrinth (2006), Moonlight (2016), Lost in Translation (2003), Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

Family · Fantasy · Drama

A Little Princess

Alfonso Cuarón, 1995

Sara grows up in India and is sent to a strict New York boarding school when her father goes to fight in World War I. When word comes that he's been killed, the headmistress strips her of everything and makes her a servant. Cuarón's first Hollywood film is a fairy tale that gets real hardship right. Watch how much the color and the sets tell you.

2 Cinematography 1 Editing 1 Psychology 1 Narrative

At a glance

A Little Princess is a 1995 family, fantasy and drama film directed by Alfonso Cuarón. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (2 cinematography, 1 editing, 1 psychology and 1 narrative), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Pan's Labyrinth uses several of the same techniques.

Cinematography

Color Palette as Worldbuilding

Limiting the film to a tightly chosen set of colors, or giving each place or state its own set. The colors tell you about the world and its mood without dialogue.

How this film uses it

Cuarón and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki soak the film in green. It's in the school, the clothes and the light. Cuarón once said green is the only color he understands, and here it makes 1914 New York feel like a storybook.

Where to see it

Sara's birthday party. The school is dressed up in rich greens for her, right before the lawyer arrives with the news about her father.

Cinematography

Production Design as Psychological Space

Designing the sets to reflect what is going on inside a character. The place they live in tells you things about them that the dialogue doesn't.

How this film uses it

The film was built on soundstages with oversized sets that match how big the world looks to a child. Sara's move from a grand suite to a cold attic shows her fall better than any speech. When the attic changes, her luck changes with it.

Where to see it

The attic transformation. Sara and Becky wake up to find their bare room filled with food, warm clothes and decorations left in the night by Ram Dass.

Editing

Story Within Story Framing

Opening or echoing the film with a staged story inside it, such as a fake opening or a film within a film. The frame sets up a layer of expectation that the film then plays with.

How this film uses it

Sara tells the other girls the legend of Prince Rama, and the film acts it out in bright fantasy scenes. Liam Cunningham plays both Rama and Sara's father, and the princess looks like her mother. The story is how Sara keeps her family close.

Where to see it

The midnight story. The girls sneak up to the attic to bring back Sara's locket and listen to her tell the tale of Prince Rama.

Psychology

Protective Fiction

Having a character invent and keep up a false version of reality to shield someone they love, or themselves, from a truth too painful to bear. The lie is a way to survive.

How this film uses it

Sara's imagination is how she survives being made a servant. She insists that every girl is a princess, no matter what she has. In the attic, she makes up a feast for Becky to get them both through a bad night.

Where to see it

The imaginary feast. After Becky has been locked in the attic all day, Sara describes fine food and clothes to Becky as if they were really there.

Narrative

Earned Catharsis

Building up to a big emotional release slowly, by investing in the characters and giving small bits of hope. When the release comes, it feels deserved after all the suffering.

How this film uses it

The film puts Sara through loss after loss and keeps her father next door, without either of them knowing. When he finally remembers her, it has taken the whole film to get there. The release hits hard because you waited for it.

Where to see it

The reunion. As the police drag Sara away, her father's memory comes back, and he runs out to save her.

Questions

A Little Princess: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does A Little Princess use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in A Little Princess (1995): Color Palette as Worldbuilding, Production Design as Psychological Space, Story Within Story Framing, Protective Fiction and Earned Catharsis.
Who directed A Little Princess?: Alfonso Cuarón directed A Little Princess, released in 1995. CineCode also covers Great Expectations (1998), Y Tu Mamá También (2001), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Children of Men (2006), Gravity (2013), Roma (2018).
What films are similar to A Little Princess?: Films that share techniques with A Little Princess include Pan's Labyrinth (2006), Moonlight (2016), Lost in Translation (2003), Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

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