One of Hollywood's most successful and noteworthy set of films, are those in which they're based off popular best-selling literature. For some of these stories, they become such timeless classics that numerous filmmakers add their own interpretations of them with their own versions of the story being put onto film. In the case of Greta Gerwig's
Little Women, the newest version serves as being the seventh film adaptation of the classic 1868 novel of the same title written by Louisa May Alcott. Whereas the plot has been retold before by numerous filmmakers, it's the distinct style that each one brings to the story that makes them stand out with audiences with the end result generally being successful. Boasting a talented young female cast that includes the likes of Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlen, the newest film adaptation does a surprisingly noteworthy job of not only reintroducing the story to a new generation of filmgoers, but maintaining the charm as well as the heart, sincerity, romance, feministic approach, and love for family that it's classic novel inspired.
Little Women 2019 is the seventh version of Alcott's story brought to the screen, but manages to feel both fresh and sincere in its intentions to retell the story with what's perhaps the best version of it brought to the big screen thus far. It rightfully earns its spot as being one of 2019's strongest films with terrific acting performances from its cast, as well as impressive writing and directing backing it.
Based on the classic coming-of-age tale with the same title, the plot for
Little Women plays out virtually the same as its novel, as well as its six other previous film versions of it. The story revolves around four sisters juggling growing up along with exploring their options together as they approach adulthood. The main sister Jo March (Played by Saoirse Ronan) reflects back and forth on both her life, as well as her sisters with her ultimately writing their experiences into a novel with each sister being determined to live life on their own terms. What makes
Little Women's story one that feels universal in regards to audiences embracing it is how it explores gender roles in society, while showing the strength of young women making their way without relying on support from men. The concept is timeless not just because of those themes but how it shows the strength of a pair of siblings, who chose to stick together regardless of what kind of experiences life throws at them. Although the story takes place in an era that's outdated, the themes and overall message of the film resonates with audiences in today's world with the movie further emphasizing the timelessness of the plot with Greta Gerwig's masterful directing being backed by a stellar cast, who all deliver terrific performances with solid production design and a firm touch of sincerity for telling the story behind its directing. As a piece of filmmaking,
Little Women proves to be well-made and handled with great care and passion behind presenting its story. What's most impressive about it is how Gerwig manages to take the story and adapt it for the screen in a way that makes it feel fresh for today's audience, as well as being more of a charming, uplifting, and ultimately empowering experience for women than what's been previously shown before, making it a richly awarding one for audiences. Gerwig's
Little Women is a brilliant reimagining of the story, that feels noble in it's ambitions as well as sincere in it's desire to be both artistically and structurally different than any previous film adaptation of the plot. It's a film that feels exceptionally made from top to bottom with a timely message regarding the empowerment of women, that couldn't arrive at a better time than how much it's desired now. Whereas many reimagining's of classic source material end up paling in comparison to their predecessors,
Little Women 2019 rises to the occasion while managing to refresh both its plot and themes for modern audiences in a way that's smart, thrilling, and feels impeccably made with an appealing cast.
As skillful and well-handled as Greta Gerwig's directing comes across as being, the film ultimately works as well as it does thanks to the performances of its main cast. The lead actresses all do a fantastic job of playing their parts along with sharing chemistry as a whole that feels natural, making the audience believe they're watching a group of siblings grow up and experience adulthood. Although all the four lead actresses do terrific jobs in their roles, it's the performances of Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh that stand out the most with Ronan's character providing the anchor for the audience in regards to being drawn into the story, as well as becoming connected with the main characters. Ronan delivers a solid performance as Jo March, a teacher in New York City who seeks to have a story she's written published that's based around the lives of her sisters. Ronan excels in portraying her character as being both independent and strong-willed with her character feeling as if she doesn't need to be tied down in a marriage like her siblings in order to be successful. The audience sees the story from her perspective with Ronan being able to convey all the right and appropriate emotions that the role requires. Florence Pugh does equally well as Jo's youngest sister Amy March with Pugh playing her character as being young and immature with her realizing that marriage isn't about financial stability but revolves around love. Her character is shown with struggling to play the role that society demands of young women at the time, which meant getting married to someone wealthy and being financially set even if they don't necessarily share genuine feelings of love for that person. Pugh does well with showing her characters struggle with maintaining that expectation, which was placed upon young women at the time while learning to be more independent and free-spirited with her thinking. Both Ronan and Pugh's performances are terrific with both actresses rightfully earning their Oscar nominations for Best Actress and Supporting Actress. Emma Watson also shines in her role as Jo's older sister Meg with her character desiring to be able to afford the things she wants, but realizes she can't afford it on her and her husband's budget. Her character experiences a meaningful change in which she realizes that she's ultimately happy being with her husband rather than being able to afford fancy clothes. Watson brings a sense of charm to her role much like Ronan and Pugh do with her performance holding up in between. Eliza Scanlen gives a moving yet heartbreaking performance as Jo's second youngest sister Beth. Unlike the other three actresses, Scanlen's role is more quieter and reserving with her character having a more emotional core compared to the others due to her falling ill throughout the course of the story. Scanlen surprises and impresses with her work here, showing that she not only can hold her own with the other actresses but showcases a great deal of emotion through her facial expressions with moments where she doesn't share as much dialogue. The rest of the supporting cast shines with Laura Dern giving a fantastic performance as Jo's mother Marmee March. Dern brings both class and grace to her role as an independent mother struggling to do the best she can in providing for her children while their father is away fighting in the Civil War. Dern works well off the younger actresses and has some powerful moments with them, particularly in the scenes where she helps her daughter's grow up. Meryl Streep is fantastic as usual with her playing the March's old-fashioned and rude grandmother, who tries to convince her young granddaughters that marrying for wealth is more important than love in order to ensure the family is taken care of. Streep's role here is minimal compared to her usual work, but she manages to take her character and create a scene-stealing performance with the audience automatically disapproving of her character. Other noteworthy performances are Timothee Chalamet as Laurie, the March's wealthy yet isolated orphan neighbor who shares strong feelings for Amy's character. Chalamet plays his part well and manages to work well off the four main actresses with his relationship with Amy being the core of the story. He appears to be an outside observer of the March sisters in regards to watching them grow up and become more independent. He gives them unwarranted critiquing much to their disapproval at time, but deep down means well and cares about them. Chris Cooper also gives a solid and warm performance as Laurie's father Mr. Laurence, who takes a fondness of Beth playing the piano as she reminds him of the daughter he lost years prior. As a whole, the cast for Gerwig's
Little Women does a terrific job of working together as a stunning ensemble cast. Each actor and actress feels perfectly cast for their roles with them giving the right amount of dedication to their parts, that the source material demands. None of the performances are of poor quality with everyone bringing a certain amount of charm and heart to their characters with their work ultimately making the film a more enjoyable and moving experience.
In addition to the films strong acting performances, the directing by Greta Gerwig stands as being both admirable and well-handled with her bringing the right amount of sincerity, craftsmanship, and heart to the film. She not only manages to assemble a brilliant ensemble cast, but is able to generate raw emotion from them while giving the story both a mature and heartwarming feel to it. Gerwig allows her actors enough freedom to bring their characters to life, as well as control the scenes their in with them finding ways to work off each other. She gives the film a distinct look that rightfully fits the stories time period with both the set and costume design transporting audiences back to the late 1860's era. The movies cinematography is striking with the look of the film appearing as if each frame could be posted as an image on a holiday card. While the film is given an atmosphere which feels relaxing with a few slow-motion shots added to keep the screen from appearing stale, the cinematography does a fabulous job of bringing a post Civil War era 1860's New England to life for the audience to experience with the film being given the appropriate look and realism. The editing stands as being one of its most impressive elements with the story appearing to jump back and forth with a unique timeline, that meshes present scenes together with flashbacks of the main characters. Though this technique can become confusing to audiences if they don't closely follow the story or character subplots as they unfold, it adds a unique stamp to the overall film while presenting a different style of story structure for the classic novel than what audiences have been previously accustomed to with earlier film adaptations. On a technical front, the film is top notch with the look and style of the novels setting being wonderfully displayed on screen to absolute perfection. In regards to directing, Greta Gerwig proves that she's more than capable of adapting a well-established novel and giving it a new cinematic form. She not only shows that she can juggle a large ensemble cast of talented actors and get great performances out of them, but can rearrange elements of the story to make it appeal to audiences in a way that's both unique and engaging. She effectively modernizes the story for today's generation to become attached to, and take away some of the films key themes and overall message. As
Little Women demonstrates, Gerwig is a skillful up and coming filmmaker with a firm grip on her craft.
One of the more intriguing aspects of the film is the way the story is told with the constant jumping back and forth of its timeline. The script written by Gerwig, presents a different style of telling the story of the March family compared to what's been shown before previously. The film incorporates many of the novels themes which young women in today's generation can find relation to on a personal note. Gerwig's screenplay tackles themes revolving around family, gender roles, women making their own way in the world without the assistance of men, making money, financial stress, the loss of loved ones, options for women, marrying for convenience rather than love, domestic struggles, jealously between siblings, siblings rivalry, privilege, sacrifice, and heartbreak. All of these themes are essential to the story of
Little Women with Gerwig masterfully incorporating them into the script in a way which the audience can understand the motive and struggles of the March sisters. One of the key elements that makes
Little Women such a timeless story for both readers and film audiences, is how universal its themes feel as they can be applied to any generations struggle regarding young women trying to make it on their own independently along with remaining united as a family. The script effectively explores the numerous options that women have in regards to being successful, while also showing the limitations and setbacks they face in their journey towards independence. All of the characters in Gerwig's script are well-deserved and each given their appropriate time to shine in the film. The dialogue is intelligently written and encourages audiences to think about and reflect on the actions of certain characters in the story. The transitioning of the March sisters from young women into adulthood is handled convincingly and feels natural without it appearing forced. Their family tree is one that's presented as being strong and relatable to audiences with Dern's character sharing great key moments with her daughter's, particularly the scene where she asks questions Jo on whether she truly loves Laurie despite rejecting his feelings for her. Gerwig's script stays true to the source material with her portrayal of the March's as being a simple family, who are shown to be fun-spirited and well natured with scenes in which they joking play with each other, as well as being giving people with them being shown to offer their breakfast to another family who needs it more. Despite the moments of immaturity that the March sisters show, the audience understands and see's them grow as young girls into strong independent women with the best character arcs being that of Jo and Amy. The screenplay for
Little Women is both beautifully and wonderfully written with the story being cleverly retooled to appeal to modern audiences, along with the characters being properly developed to the point where the audience becomes invested in their growths into adulthood, while seeing the other side characters being both affected and inspired by them.
What could've easily ended up being an average to mediocre retelling of a classic novel, that's been fairly well adapted before previously on the big screen by other film versions of it, Greta Gerwig's
Little Women manages to be a pleasant surprise in terms of its overall execution and noble intentions to speak to today's generation of young women. The film is extremely well made with stellar performances from its main cast along with a powerful message that emphasizes family love being a gift that should be cherished, along with a conclusion that says no one makes their own way with family being the starting point. Of all the previous film adaptations of Louisa May Alcott's novel, Greta Gerwig's reimagining of the story serves as being the strongest with it destined to be seen and enjoyed by audiences for generations. Having seen the film, it's no secret as to why the 2019 version turned out to be as successful as it ultimately ended up being (The film grossed over $209 million worldwide while garnering a total of six Oscar nominations). The story for
Little Women is one that speaks to generations of women with Gerwig's approach being one that's smartly written, steadily directed, and feels time-sensitive to many of today's messages regarding women's desires for independence, as well as strong ideals of feminism represented through the character of Jo. The most remarkable trait that the films story possesses, is how the concept could be taken out of its current era and placed in another with its themes and messages carrying just as much emotional weight as they would in the setting the story occupies. For a novel that didn't scream for another film adaptation of it, Greta Gerwig's film makes the strong case for being warranted and well-deserving of its success.
Final Verdict: For fans of the classic novel as well as the previous film adaptations it spawned,
Little Women 2019 is a must see.
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