Film Review - Little Women (U)

Make it short and spicy - and if the main character is a girl, make sure she's married by the end.

Little Women is as perennial an American story as A Christmas Carol is a British one. Louisa May Alcott's tale of sisterhood and hard-won maturity at the time of the Civil War has already been adapted multiple times for the big screen, most recently in a 1994 version starring Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder. Quite what Greta Gerwig hoped to achieve in the wake of her Lady Bird success by writing and directing another one seemed unclear when it was first announced. But with a shrewd take on the source material and several of her Lady Bird actor-collaborators on board, it turns out she knew exactly what she was doing.

The movie, like the novel, tells of the March sisters, struggling through hard times in their Massachussets home, while their father is off serving with the Union army. Eldest daughter Jo (Saoirse Ronan) has writing aspirations and the least conventional attitude of the four. Meg (Emma Watson) is theatrical, but more traditionally romantic. Beth (Sharp Objects' Eliza Scanlon) is a quiet source of good deeds, while youngest sister Amy (Florence Pugh fresh from Midsommar) is a talented artist, but with her eyes fixed on the prize of a rich husband. The explosion into their lives of wealthy young extrovert Theodore 'Laurie' Laurence (Timothee Chalamet) causes all kinds of ripples, romantic and otherwise. But whether or not any of the girls' dreams can survive into adulthood proves a whole other matter.

The genius of Gerwig's approach to the March girls' story is to combine old with new. The film's look is all lavish, exquisite period detail (visually every scene is set on stun). However the film-maker's approach - in the editing, the use of camera and chiefly the narrative structure - is strikingly contemporary. The use of a dual time-line is a daring strategy, but one that proves integral to the ideas mined by the screenplay from this oft-told tale. Beginning with the fully-grown Jo's attempt to have a book published, this version immediately sets the sisters' faltering adult lives in contrast to the hopes of their girlhood. There's a lustrous glow to the family sequences that sets them in a realm of memory, while the 'now' scenes are shot in the darker hues of experience. It takes a bit of audience adjustment for sure, but (one edit aside that momentarily confused me) ultimately works to powerful dramatic effect.

Of the various paths that Gerwig could have taken through Alcott's vividly detailed novel, she chooses the March girls' search for personal fulfillment. Together they exist in a world bent on narrowing their opportunities as women. The path each one takes, it seems, leads inevitably to compromise. For role models they can draw on the calm strength of their mother Marmee (Laura Dern as warm and loving here as she's steely in Marriage Story) or the grim praticality of their Aunt March (Meryl Streep delivering trademark scene-stealing support). But easy solutions are in short supply. It's a factor that creates the film's dramatic core, drawing sympathy for all four protagonists, the spiky, tricky-to-like Amy included.

Of course it helps that the leads (along with every bit-part player) are so well-cast and directed with such sureness of touch. The result is instant sisterly rapport and sheer vibrancy, along with a naturalism - period dialogue notwithstanding - that's reminiscent of Gerwig's other work. Each of the girls is terrific here, with special mention for two. Ronan carries the narrative through-line while creating a fervently independent character in Jo. Pugh meanwhile proves just as empassioned in her own way, bringing dimension and relatability to that infernal Amy. This pair are among the greatest screen actors of their generation, so it's good that they're both matched in scenes by Chalomet; impressing earlier this year in Beautiful Boy, he now submits another star turn as the charismatic if feckless Laurie. You want dynamism in your Alcott? Put any combination of these three in proximity and just watch it happen.

Here is an adaptation equally concerned with the adults the girls turn into as with their teenage selves. And if the household scenes are often a giddy whirl, the more sober grown-up sequences allow time to reflect for characters and audience alike. It's the kind of audacious treatment you might have hoped for from Gerwig and she delivers right to the final act, where some narrative slight of hand that takes things to a whole new level of brilliance. Expect the world of novel in dazzling colour, along with a radical new twist. This is Little Women for a new generation - of Alcott fans for sure. Chiefly cine-literate ones.

Gut Reaction: A brief adjustment to the time-structure, then building enjoyment - to laughter, teary moments and multi-layered satisfaction at the ending.

Memorable Moment: Jo sums it all up to Marmee.

Ed's Verdict: 9/10. Clever screen writing, but never at the expense of faithfulness, depth or emotion. Little Women is a great cinema experience - and the more you think about it, the better it gets.