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Madeline

Madeline

Family · Comedy · Drama · 1998

Horrified at the prospect of her beloved school being sold, a young French girl named Madeline uses her wit and craftiness to attempt to save it, making an unlikely new friend in the process.

Movie details

Madeline

“In an old house in Paris, that was covered with vines...”

1998 Family · Comedy · Drama 1h 29m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

Horrified at the prospect of her beloved school being sold, a young French girl named Madeline uses her wit and craftiness to attempt to save it, making an unlikely new friend in the process.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Madeline?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Daisy von Scherler Mayer

Written by

Mark Levin · Jennifer Flackett

Hatty Jones

Hatty Jones

Madeline

Frances McDormand

Frances McDormand

Miss Clavel

Nigel Hawthorne

Nigel Hawthorne

Lord Covington

Ben Daniels

Ben Daniels

Leopold the Tutor

A

Arturo Venegas

Mr. Spanish Ambassador

Stéphane Audran

Stéphane Audran

Lady Marie Covington

Katia Caballero

Katia Caballero

Mrs. Spanish Ambassador

Court is in session

Put Madeline on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.