One of this year's best, and one of the top Alcott adaptations of all time.
Little Women
Grade: A
Director: Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
Screenplay: Gerwig from Louisa May Alcott story
Cast: Saoirse Ronan (Hannah), Emma Watson (Beauty and the Beast)
Rating: PG
Runtime: 2h 14m
By: John DeSando
“I’ve had lots of troubles, so I write jolly tales.” Jo March (Saoirse Ronan)
Yes, the troubles of the March girls in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women are not a few, including death, disease, and men. The last item is the recurring danger for 19th century women who disregard the iron clad warning, from mothers mostly, that a girl is guaranteed success and safety if she marries and marries well. Jo is not like other girls because she holds out as long as possible in her spinsterhood while she pursues her writing career.
Writer/director Gerwig does the impossible: She makes the novel new by letting the girls, especially Jo, direct their lives with energy and love. No better household occupies other movies this year, or almost any year. With Jo the spirit at the center, they represent the longing of women who are on the cusp of being recognized as intelligent and creative.
In the family are a writer, a painter, an actress, and a pianist, about as representative of the muses as you can get. Gerwig enthusiastically directs the actresses to run in all directions on their own. As an ensemble, the cast may be the best of 2019; as individual actresses they give the audience a full measure of strength and weakness.
With soft golden interior light and bathing sunlight through the windows and in the outdoors, Gerwig gives the nostalgic and warming ambience needed for us to love and respect these romantic characters. Alexandre Desplat’s music, although at times intrusive, is mostly spot on to support moment and thoughts.
Greta Gerwig has a masterful film that should be nominated for an Oscar. As for those actresses, they work so well together that they may cancel each other at Oscar time. Whatever, because they embody the bright, emerging young feminists we promote today: tough, ambitious, and loving--only over a century and a half ago. Greta and Saoirse—Alcott would write about them if she were alive.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
