Little Women is of course based on the classic novel written by Louisa May Alcott and was released towards the end of 2019. It was directed by Greta Gerwig, who received a lot of praise for her previous film, Lady Bird. The star of that film, Saoirse Ronan, joins the cast of this one as the protagonist Joe Marsh, alongside Florence Pugh (from Fighting With My Family and Midsommar), Emma Watson (Hermione from the Harry Potter series) and Eliza Scanlan playing her three sisters, Amy, Meg and Beth. The cast is rounded out with other acclaimed actors such as Laura Dern playing the mother of the family, Meryl Streep playing Aunt March, and Timothée Chalamet playing the main love interest, Theodore "Laurie" Lawrence.
One of the major changes that Geta Gerwig has made in her version of the story is to alternate between flashbacks and flashforward sequences, which I found to be a little confusing at first. The very first time the film jumps ahead about a decade, it does tell you that has happened, but after that it's very much up to you to keep up with it. Eventually I figured out that the past scenes were all bathed in golden sunlight, indicating that things were generally going well for the March family and they were all still fairly innocent. The future scenes were much darker both in lighting and in tone, with the challenges of daily life starting to take their toll on the sisters.
Though this is still a period drama it does feel very modern, which is a testament to the original story, really. Although I haven't actually read the book myself, I understand that most of the dialogue and story that is in the film has been taken from the source material and not changed too much. There was one speech that stuck in the memory in particular, spoken by Joe, which goes: "Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they've got ambition, and they've got talent, as well as just beauty. I'm so sick of people saying that love is just all a woman is fit for." Powerful stuff.
Though they have fairly minor roles in the film, Chris Cooper and Bob Odenkirk do have some key scenes as Mr Laurence, father of Laurie, and Father March. It was nice to see such talented male actors alongside the mostly female cast. Little Women is most definitely a film I never would have chosen to go and see were it not for the exceptionally cheap tickets offered by my local cinema. I'm very glad I did go and see it though as it was very entertaining. You should try and catch it too, in the cinema, on streaming services or on a Blu Ray.
One of the major changes that Geta Gerwig has made in her version of the story is to alternate between flashbacks and flashforward sequences, which I found to be a little confusing at first. The very first time the film jumps ahead about a decade, it does tell you that has happened, but after that it's very much up to you to keep up with it. Eventually I figured out that the past scenes were all bathed in golden sunlight, indicating that things were generally going well for the March family and they were all still fairly innocent. The future scenes were much darker both in lighting and in tone, with the challenges of daily life starting to take their toll on the sisters.
Though this is still a period drama it does feel very modern, which is a testament to the original story, really. Although I haven't actually read the book myself, I understand that most of the dialogue and story that is in the film has been taken from the source material and not changed too much. There was one speech that stuck in the memory in particular, spoken by Joe, which goes: "Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they've got ambition, and they've got talent, as well as just beauty. I'm so sick of people saying that love is just all a woman is fit for." Powerful stuff.
Though they have fairly minor roles in the film, Chris Cooper and Bob Odenkirk do have some key scenes as Mr Laurence, father of Laurie, and Father March. It was nice to see such talented male actors alongside the mostly female cast. Little Women is most definitely a film I never would have chosen to go and see were it not for the exceptionally cheap tickets offered by my local cinema. I'm very glad I did go and see it though as it was very entertaining. You should try and catch it too, in the cinema, on streaming services or on a Blu Ray.
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