First
of all, at some point later, I’m going to have to do a comparison post between
the 1994 adaptation of Little Women and
this movie. The former is one of my favorite movies of all time and has been
for decades, which obviously makes it harder for the new version to stand on
its own in my regard. But honestly? I love both, mostly for different reasons.
For now, though, I’ll try and limit the comparisons so I can stick to a
straight-up review (a few light spoilers.)
The
four March sisters live in Concord with their mother while their father is away
in the Civil War. Wistful, romantic Meg, who looks at the finery richer girls
own and laments the family’s limited means; tomboy-ish, imaginative Jo, who
chafes at social conventions and dreams of taking the world by storm with her
writing; shy, delicate Beth, who possesses a big heart which gives of itself
exhaustively; and fanciful, ambitious Amy, who has great plans for her future
that involve marrying extremely well and becoming a great artist. Amidst
squabbles and sorrows, love and loss, the sisters look out for one another as
they grow into young women.
Going
into the film, I’d heard about its non-linear structure, moving back and forth
in time between the vibrant, youthful first half of the book and the quieter,
more adult second half. It struck me as a pretty good strategy, since the first
half of the book contains more of its standout sequences, and playing with the
timeline seemed like a good way to balance out the scenes. But to quote Sunday in the Park with George, “everything
depends on execution,” and the technique could easily make or break the
adaptation. I’ll admit that, at the very first, the jumps felt a little jarring
to me, and I wondered from time to time whether someone who hadn’t read the
book could keep track of the story. Quickly, though, I got into the rhythm of
it and I find it an overall success. From a technical standpoint, the film
incorporates plenty of indicators (a different color palette, differences in
costumes/hairstyles) to show where we are in time, and narratively, I think it’s
definitely an asset to the film. It creates nice thematic kinship between
numerous moments in the past and present of the Marches’ lives, it keeps the
action more dynamic, and it helps certain plot developments in the second half come
off more convincingly.
This
is just a really lushly-made film. The care that went into the design and the
arrangement of the story is evident, it’s brimming with passion (both the
characters’ own passion in their lives and the production team’s passion for
the source material,) and it infuses an old story with a modern flair that,
rather than feeling anachronistic, enhances what it’s trying to say and gives
the film a greater feeling of immediacy and resonance. I really like different
moments added into the script in which different characters address the gender
inequality of their world more overtly than the book does. Writer/director
Greta Gerwig (of Lady Bird fame)
received a well-earned Adapted Screenplay nomination, but her direction was
sadly overlooked.
The
acting is strong across the board. More nominations here, a Leading Actress nod
for Saoirse Ronan, who brings a blazing ferocity to her portrayal of Jo, and a
Supporting Actress nomination for Florence Pugh, who’s honestly revelatory in
her role as Amy (this film makes me “get” Amy in a way that neither the book
nor the 1994 film really did.) Emma Watson does nice work as Meg and Eliza
Scanlen, who I’m not familiar with, gives a very affecting performance as Beth.
I’m slightly less sold on Laura Dern’s Marmee and Timothée Chalamet’s Laurie –
while both capture the essence of their characters well, Dern feels just a bit
too modern, and Chalamet’s youthful face makes him seem like the Marches’ kid
brother instead of a romantic prospect for any of them. Meryl Streep delivers
as usual as Aunt March, and Chris Cooper knocks it out of the park as Mr. Laurence.
Like
Marriage Story, the film picked up
six Oscar nominations in total. It’s another Best Picture nominee, and besides
the screenplay and acting nods, it’s also up for Costume Design and Original
Score.
Warnings
Brief
violence/peril, a little drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.
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