Little Women (2019)
Written and directed by Greta Gerwig
I cannot overstate how much I love going to the movies. Even after six years of study and a double major in Creative Writing and Screen Studies, my fascination with visual storytelling and the moving image hasn’t waned.
Narrative film still delights and moves me, and this adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic text is a great example of why. Last night I went with a girlfriend to a member’s pre-screening of Little Women at the State Cinema in North Hobart and we were thoroughly entertained.
If anyone was in any doubt of Gerwig’s credentials as a director or screenwriter, this should put them to rest. Using multiple elements of fabulous casting, a great script, believable costuming, subtle lighting, excellent framing and editing, Gerwig offers a reimagined version of the March sisters that doesn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
From the outset, the most notable difference is that Gerwig skews time and tells the story in a series of flashbacks, usually triggered by something Jo has seen or heard. Once I got into the rhythm of this, it gave a far more satisfying experience than a standard linear narrative remake, and offered a lot more depth to the character’s development from adolescent girls to young women. This is particularly relevant to the often maligned Amy, the youngest sister, who Florence Pugh masterfully takes from a mischievous girl trying to keep up with her older sisters to an accomplished and determined young woman.
The cast are uniformly excellent and the magic between Timothee Chalomet’s Laurie and Saoirse Ronan’s Jo is delightful as ever, but the scenes between Jo and her mother, played by Laura Dern are truly powerful. Emma Watson is delightful as good-natured Meg (though I felt she wasn’t as well served in the script as Jo, Beth and especially Amy), and Australian actor Eliza Scanlen takes the difficult role of Beth and makes it believable rather than melodramatic and maudlin. Throw in Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper and Bob Odenkirk and it’s a killer line up! My only real casting criticism is James Norton and Louis Garrel are too young and far too good looking for John Brooke and Friedrich Bhaer respectively – but it’s minor!
Overlaid with a beautifully balanced score from Alexandre Desplat, and period-appropriate costumes from Jacqueline Durran I think Gerwig’s adaptation is a triumph. Overall, this is a fine reworking of a much loved classic that captures much of the free spiritedness of Alcott’s book, bringing the March family squarely into the 21st century. Although the ending isn’t strictly true to the original text, it fits well in Gerwig’s reimagined world, bringing new life and empowerment to the sisters.
Little Women opens 1 January 2020 at the State Cinema and would make a perfect mother/daughter or sister’s date.
Debra Manskey 