Right from the beginning, you sympathize with this neglected yet spoiled little girl. Normally I adore Maggie Smith, but here the director is so astute, Maggie becomes Medlock and makes your blood boil with her officiousness and her thin-lipped inability to see or feel for the children. Luckily they all fend for themselves and create a world both unbelievable and wholly needed in our dry and hurried lives. It is for films like these that I go to the theater. It is because of stories like these that my sleep is peopled with gorgeous landscapes and interesting remarks.