Little Women

Score:  A

Directed by Greta Gerwig
Starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Timothee Chalamet
Running time: 135 minutes
Rated PG

Long Story Short:  The classic tale from Louisa May Alcott receives a triumphant modern adaptation from one of Hollywood's most talented filmmakers, Greta Gerwig.  Ronan, Pugh, Watson and Scanlen form its essential, vibrant foundation as the sisters, but Gerwig steers them skillfully with touches like a reframed chronology.  It's a winner - highly recommended.


In 1861, a mother (Dern) looks after her four boisterous daughters Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth (Watson, Ronan, Pugh, Scanlen), distinct yet inseparable.  In 1868, the sisters are separated, life taking its toll on each and in fact balancing precariously for one of them.  The years between show the growth of these loving yet competitive, teasing, consoling and above all faithful siblings.  A father away at war and a rich neighbor's volatile son play their parts, too, as the March sisters savor and struggle with life.

Little Women has a very impressive cast, ably led by the four title sisters.  Saoirse Ronan as second-oldest child Jo serves as the first among the leads.  Ronan is probably the best of the actors (three Oscar nominations already), and she demonstrates it in her performance as the most independent of the sisters, Jo, whose passion is in writing.  Ronan gives Jo a natural air of responsibility in sharing leadership duties with Watson's Meg, yet she also does a great job showing her exasperation (and discomfort) with some of the expectations of a young lady of the era.  While she's the most introverted, her passion also shines through whether in a private jig or long, quiet sessions of scribbling.  Florence Pugh plays Amy, the second youngest sister, the classic "middle child".  Pugh has a challenging role here, easy to overplay her passions, but she keeps control and has her own form of nuance.  Comfortable in public - at times too much so - Pugh shows Amy seething in private yet also tender, too.  Emma Watson is well-placed in the role of eldest sister Meg.  Perhaps not quite as strong an actor as Ronan or Pugh, Watson is entirely convincing and affecting in the right situation. Here, she's the most traditionally lady-like, "well-behaved" one who can still let her hair down now and then.  The youngest sister, Beth, is played by Eliza Scanlen, who's unfamiliar to me.  As the "baby", Scanlen is a bit more reserved, but shows a maturity and confidence in her quiet actions that bely her age (and plays a mean piano sonata).  Timothee Chalamet as Laurie gets the most significant supporting role, his relationships with the sisters and mercurial nature providing extra intrigue to the story; Chalamet does well with it.  Among plenty of other interesting but smaller roles, the sisters' mother and aunt, played by Laura Dern and Meryl Streep, respectively, are particularly well done.

Little Women is an excellent, traditional (naturally) piece of filmmaking that combines deftly modern touches with the classic tale to provide a touching portrait of the famed sisters.  Gerwig, one of Hollywood's brightest rising stars, is typically known for more modern styles, as in Lady Bird.  Thus this seems a curious fit for her, but by focusing her efforts on more subtle elements while letting the actors own the story, Gerwig respects the tradition while optimizing its presentation for a modern audience.  The most significant change is moving from a linear to an interwoven (between an "early" and a "later" period) chronology.  This is a brilliant move: as the film is really about the relationships and growth of the sisters, going back and forth allows the audience to track the developments in both throughout the film, not to mention providing some crucial foreshadowing.  It also evens out the tone well, since the earliest scenes are the more cheerful, almost carefree while the later ones are often somber or at least quieting.  The style also is nicely balanced.  It eschews the strict formality - everything "just so", from dialogue to choreography - of a typical period piece, while retaining a straightforward, at times refreshingly earnest, feel.  Having set this "table", Gerwig unleashes her actors to do the rest.  Most importantly, the sister actors seem to have a true bond.  Their happiness is infectious as they wrestle and laugh on the floor, and the hurt is deep when they sabotage (intentionally and not) each other.  Crucially, each sister gets her own story, too, and feels like a well-rounded individual; this is where Meg and Beth shine in particular.  But it's when they are there for each other, in good times and bad, that the film really sings.

***

Little Women is not the kind of film that I usually look forward to, but as you can tell I'm quite glad that I saw it.  In fact, I really knew very little about this classic in advance, which ended up working out as well as it does for any other film.  I didn't have any preconceived notions of how it "should" go, let alone what would happen at all.  Given its amazing cast, great reviews (95% on Rotten Tomatoes), Oscar buzz and - at least as important as the rest - the direction of Greta Gerwig, I was fortunately drawn in to see this in the theater.  It's a genius choice for Gerwig; while it clearly fits with her fondness for telling great stories with women at their center, it shows how that can easily be accomplished through revisiting the classics, too.  Along with being an excellent film overall, it is also an entertaining and inspiring one.  Highly recommended.




* By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61598613