A new adaption of the iconic Louisa May Alcott novel brings together an all star cast including Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Timothee Chalamet, Laura Dern, and Meryl Streep with newcomer Eliza Scanlen as the sister Beth. Jo, Amy, Meg, and Beth (Ronan, Pugh, Watson, and Scanlen in that order) are all sisters who live with their mother as the country comes to its resolution on the Civil War. Their father is deployed at the moment so it's just the ladies around the house. Neighbors Laurie and his grandfather. The "domestic struggle" aspect is definitely present in this adaptation although I will admit that I am not familiar with the original story and can not articulate the differences between the book, film, and past film adaptations. As much as I would like to go more into depth about these differences and why this new version proves its existence, I'm not familiar enough with the story to do so.
Right off the bat, I'm going to start off with my favorite aspect about this film: Greta Gerwig, the writer and director. I thought Lady Bird was a perfect movie and was so stoked to see that she was making another film. Little Women, in my opinion, has something that wasn't as present in Lady Bird: a feminine touch. Not to dispose the femininity of Lady Bird, or put the two on a hierarchy, but everything from the camera movements to Gerwig's take on the characters has something different about it. God, just the scene where Jo and Laurie are dancing on the porch amazes me. I was touched by this film, not really on an emotional level, but on a cinematic appreciation level. I'm not saying there weren't any heart-tugging moments, but the obvious craft that went into every aspect of this movie is what amazes me.
From what I've gathered on the Internet, the film really did need to do something different with this story to distinguish itself from other adaptations and it does. The book is a linear narrative, but the film divides the story into two separate timelines. One sees Jo, Meg, and Amy going back to their home to spend time with their ill sister, Beth, while the other is 7 years earlier that shows the 4 sisters during their childhood mostly during the time their father was aiding in the war. They chaotically get along with each other as they go through their 19th century middle class style childhood. The film successfully finds a way to keep important events in both timelines lined up so that, even though the narrative is mixed up, they both still come together to form a cohesive conclusion.
Another difference I've come to find out, without having read the source material, is that the film is told with Jo as our main narrator. The film begins by having us meet her as she goes into a publisher to convince them to publish one of her stories. I was already enticed just by the opening shot with Jo's silhouette standing in front of the publishers door. These are the only differences I have come to find out without having read the source material.
I will say that the flashback narrative is a strong quality of the movie, but I felt like it was a bit messy and unbalanced in the beginning. It took a minute for me to get used to jumping back and forth and the first half of the movie spends most of its time in the past. We'll occasionally get a couple of minutes in the present narrative, but it's a very short time until we are put back into the past. We get to spend more time in the present in the second half and the film keeps a steady pace as both timelines reach to their conclusions.
Gerwig proves her talent once again in this amazing new take on the classic Alcott story. I think that Little Women does a wonderful job in revamping the original story while also cementing the fact that this story and these characters really are timeless. With an all-star cast such as this one it's hard to see anyone really hating this. If you're the type of person who hates it when movies get "preachy" then Little Women will annoy you, but I think the film does a good job by finding a way to not be pretentious about its feminist morals. I'm not one of those "down with the liberal Hollywood agenda!" people (those people kind of annoy me to be honest), but if it something that bothers you then here's that warning I guess. Other than that, this movie and its wonderful womanliness is one of the best movies to come out this year and will for sure be grabbing a couple of nominations come Oscar night. It's an adaptation that only a woman such as Gerwig could've done. 9/10
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