Over the years we have had many new adaptations of classic films and novels and now we a new rendition of Little Women. This new version has been directed by Greta Gerwig and pays tribute to Louisa May Alcott's classic novel of four sisters. Gerwig makes this a coming of age and sibling rivalry drama movie while also making it a film about writing about your own life. Jo March must negotiate terms with a tough and single-minded publisher while deciding how to end her story.
Jo March is a very fierce and opinionated women, played by Saoirse Ronan. Jo is one of four teenage sister we follow in this film; they are increasingly faced with poverty in 19th Century Massachusetts. Their father (Bob Odenkirk) is away serving in the civil war and this causes a strain on the household as the girls fear for their father and want his safe return. Along with Saoirse Ronan as the opinionated Jo, we have Emma Watson who plays the very thoughtful and second motherly figure Meg. Along with this we have the hot-headed Amy played by Florence Pugh and the last sister is the gentle and caring Beth played by Eliza Scanlen. While their father is away fighting in the civil war, the girl’s mother, Marmie, played by Laura Dern who brings an element of class, thoughtfulness yet sass to this character. In this film we discover how different Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth are and what they want to achieve in their lives. At the heart of this film is the girls love for each other and finding love with others. James Norton plays John Brooke, the penniless tutor who captures Meg's heart and we see the truth behind their marriage, it is difficult as they struggle with money yet at the end of the day, they love each other and only want happiness for each other. In the book and original film Professor Friedrich Bhaer, the middle-aged German academic from New York who clashes with Jo and is her suitor/mentor has been reinvented as a much younger Frenchman played by Louis Garrel. As for the two most recognisable characters, they are played by two great and well-known actors. The cranky yet wealthy Aunt March is played by Meryl Streep. While the handsome boy next door who at some point was in love with all four of the March girls is played by Timothée Chalamet.
Gerwig's treatment of the story sees the March girls being played by the same four actors, thus not splitting them up to younger and older versions of the characters. The structure of the film sees flashbacks of the girls at home when they were young girls with their later lives as young women trying to survive the world. In their later lives Jo is trying to be a writer in New York, Meg is married to John, Amy is on a Europeans tour improving her art skills with Aunt March who hopes to school her into who to marry, and Beth whose at home where she meets her awful fate.
We get to see the real life of the March girls and how they might be close as sisters, they don't always get along. From getting into scrapes with each to putting on their own theatre shows, we see how talented and creative these girls are. There are moments of joy and silliness and there are moments that pull on your heartstrings especially when it comes to Beth's illness and the impact Beth really has on the other March girls. Along with this, we get to see the pain Jo go throughs as she pushes away the people that love her and she ends up being lonely until a character we forget about turns up at her door and we finally see her truly happy. It is interesting to see the love triangle between Jo, Meg and Laurie.
This version of Little Women looks incredible and you may think it gets confusing with all the jumping back and forth yet it is done really well. It is quite obvious which scenes are in the past with the young version of the March girls and the older version of the March girls, due to the colouring of the scenes which is a simple yet effective technique that is used. The performances from the entire cast are outstanding and faultless. We create a strong a strong connection with all the characters. Ronan is fantastic a Jo, her performance is strong and we see her trying to be a strong figure for her sisters and support her family yet underneath she is struggling to come to terms with letting someone else love her so she makes herself lonely by pushing people away until the end. Ronan and Chalamet have great chemistry onscreen and we can clearly see the love interest and friendship that we all wish we could have as it seems to be fun and work so well until feelings are discussed. Chalamet's performance is perfect as Laurie, we love yet hate him at times. We love and feel bad for him when he is rejected but we hate him at times how he is wasting his time and embarrassing Amy. Speaking of Amy, Pugh makes this character very fiery and not to be messed with, which is good as it shows she knows how to conduct herself but makes her relatable. Pugh also makes her contrasting with the other March sisters but this shows how different they are in personality yet their family values are all the same. Watson is superb as Meg; she makes her loveable as we want her to be happy yet she is struggling as she wants nice things but can't afford it. However we also see this character grow, she wants the life she use to have with nice new things yet she grows and sees she doesn’t need new things she has the love of her husband and has got all she has wanted which is a husband, a house and a family. The performances throughout are perfection to watch. This film does have a long run time but it doesn’t feel long when watching as the performances are really captivating and we want to keep watching to see what our characters will do next.
Little Women shows how this isn’t a typical love story, it might seem obvious that Jo and Laurie should be together but this film insists that marriage isn’t always about love more it is economic. However, the March girls all do find love in the end but just not with the men we expect. There are a lot of positives to this film as we really connect with the March girls and it hurts when we lose one of them. Emotionally this film will make you cry and laugh. What this film does is show how this family works and how families aren’t perfect but they will always support each other. This is a film about love, not just finding a partner but love in a family which we all can relate. Performances are so strong and visually strong; this new adaptation will be remembered for a long time.
