My rating on 1-10 scale: 9.5
Main characters: Anne Shirley, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, Gilbert Blythe, Diana Barry
Genre(s): Drama, Family
Primary actors: Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Jonathan Crombie, Schuyler Grant
Filmmaker: Sullivan Entertainment
Year: 1985
Length: 3 hrs. 19 min.
Based on: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Time period: Late 1800s, Canada
Summary: Mistreated in homes and not wanted at orphanages, Anne Shirley comforts and amuses herself with her excellent and dramatic imagination. She tries to imagine difficulties away and lives her own life, the way she wants it, in her head. When she finds herself in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, on her way to a new home with a quiet old man named Matthew Cuthbert, she can hardly believe it is real. When they arrive at Green Gables, she learns from Matthew’s spinster sister Marilla that they were expecting a boy, and she must go back. Anne’s happiness melts to despair as the beautiful dream is shattered. Marilla’s hasty decision to send Anne back is hindered, and she decided to let Anne stay “on trial”. Anne finds the “bosom friend” she’s always dreamed of, a girl named Diana Barry. Rachel Lynde, a gossipy woman who speaks her critical mind and Gilbert Blythe, a boy at school who teases get the better of Anne’s short temper – not difficult to achieve, when her red hair is remarked upon. However, in spite of – or because of – her peculiar ways, with Matthew on Anne’s side the whole way, she finds her way into Marilla’s heart, and Green Gables becomes her permanent home. As few years pass, and Anne excels in her studies, has Gilbert as a constant but unwelcome admirer (and rival), and all along keeps finding herself in numerous mishaps and difficult situations (which, to the onlooker, can prove quite hilarious.)
Quotes:
(This movie has some of the best quotes, and there are so many! I will try to limit them…)
Marilla: Well, what's your name?
Anne: Would you please call me Cordelia?
Marilla: Call you Cordelia?
Anne: Don't you think it's a pretty name?
Marilla: Is that your name?
Anne: Well, no, it's not exactly my name, though I would love to be called Cordelia.
Marilla: I don't understand what you mean.
Anne: Cordelia is a perfectly elegant name.
Marilla: What is your name child, and no more nonsense!
Anne: Anne Shirley. Plain, old, unromantic Anne Shirley.
Marilla: Anne Shirley is a fine and sensible name, and hardly one to be ashamed of.
Anne: Oh, I'm not ashamed, but if you are going to call me Anne, would you please be sure to spell it with an "e". … If you'll only call me Anne with an "e", I'll try and reconcile myself to not being called Cordelia.
“I wouldn't give a dog I liked to that Blewett woman.” –Marilla
“You can punish me any way you like. You can lock me up in a dark dungeon inhabited by snakes and toads, and feed me on bread and water. I won't complain. But I cannot ask Rachel Lynde to forgive me. –Anne
Anne: Don’t you ever imagine things different from what they are?
Marilla: (emphatically) No.
Anne: Oh, Marilla! How much you miss.
Diana: Gilbert always makes fun of the girls. He calls me crow-head all the time, and I’ve never heard him apologize before.
Anne: There's a world of difference between being called crow-head and being called carrots. I shall never forgive Gilbert Blythe. The iron has entered my soul, Diana. My mind is made up; my red hair is a curse.
“Let us not have tears; partings are a natural part of life.” –Mr. Phillips
Diana: Oh, Anne, I’m scared!
Anne: So am I. Deliciously scared.
“Miss Stacey, I knew you were sympathetic to the human plight the minute we met.” –Anne
“I'm not interested in the confessions of assassins who masquerade as little girls.” –Aunt Josephine
“My life is an open book, I see. Who told you that?” –Anne
Mrs. Allan: How are you, Anne?
Anne: Well in body, although considerably ruffled in spirit, thank you.
“I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I was never able to believe it. A rose just couldn't smell as sweet if it was a thistle or a skunk-cabbage.” –Anne
My overall opinion: This is one of my favorite movies – I’ve been watching it ever since I was about 4 years old. Anne (spelled with an “e”!) has to be one of the most interesting and amusing heroines in literature, and while no movie could probably do her justice, this is a very good representation. I love the music, it’s so beautiful; the theme song has been my favorite song for many years. The scenery is excellent – P.E.I. is very lovely. I like the costumes too, especially as Anne gets older.
Trailer:
And some pictures: