Stepping in to their power

Little Women
Director: Greta Garwig
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen
Duration: 134 mins
Class: U
KRS Releasing Ltd

Film not reviewed

“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

So begins one of the most beloved books in literature, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Written 150 years ago, and very much inspired by Alcott’s life, Little Women was seen by many as ahead of its time with its tale of four young women who refused to adhere to what society ex­pected of them in their quest for love, work and independence.

It is a book that is a must-read on any child’s list – and one that readers return to time and time again, discovering different nuances with each reading over the years, as they identify with different stages of its protagonists’ journeys from childhood to womanhood.       

Little Women has been adapted for the big screen on numerous occasions, and Greta Gerwig, currently one of Hollywood’s most exciting acting, writing and directing talents, has crafted a version for modern audiences.

At the heart of her adaptation lies the novel’s basic theme of four young women each determined to live life on her own terms – a theme that is ever relevant to women today.

“Little Women has been part of who I am for as long as I can remember,” recalls Gerwig, add­ing that she read the novel so many times as a child, she doesn’t remember the first time she tackled it.

 Like many before her, she felt such an intense identification with Jo March – tomboy, misfit and would-be novelist struggling against the status quo to become the woman she imagines – that Jo felt less like a made-up person and more like a charismatic mentor.  In Gerwig’s mind, Jo was the girl who knew what she wanted. To be freer. To create. To transcend all that was not allowed and yet to give of herself fully to her loved ones.  

In her adaptation of the story of Jo and her sisters Meg, Beth and Amy, Gerwig remained true to Alcott’s original voice, while reconstructing the novel in an inherently cinematic way.

It’s about women as artists and it’s about women and money

“Every time I read the book, it became something different,” observes Gerwig.

 “I first knew it in the cosiness of childhood, and then as I got older, new parts of it jumped out at me. As I began writing the screenplay, the part of it that was in clear relief was how the sisters’ lives as adults are so poignant and fascinating, because they’re trying to figure out how to honour the fearless youth they had as grown-ups.”

Gerwig went a step further from the on-screen adaptations of the novel that preceded hers. She also drew inspiration from many of Alcott’s letters and papers, injecting aspects of Alcott’s real life into the screenplay while adding her own formidable, modern voice.

“I flung myself at it with everything I had,” says Gerwig.

“I had a very specific idea of what it was about: it’s about women as artists and it’s about women and money. That is all there in the text, but it’s an aspect of the story that hasn’t been delved into before. For me, it was something that felt really, really close to the surface, and even now, this movie feels more autobiographi­cal than anything I’ve made.”

Gerwig has brought together an enticing ensemble to play the March sisters. Having just worked with Saoirse Ronan on her directorial debut Lady Bird in 2017, Gerwig knew the young actor could let the audience into Jo’s moods, her spirit and her thinking. In Emma Watson, Gerwig cast an actor who could embody older sister Meg’s traditionally maternal aspects but also the headstrong perfectionist who knows exactly who she is and what she wants.

Relative newcomer Eliza Scanlen takes the role of the introverted and fragile Beth March; while young Florence Pugh offers an interesting portrayal of the strident and, at times, mischievous Amy.

Rounding off the formidable cast is another Lady Bird alumnus Timothée Chalamet as the sisters’ beloved neighbour Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

It’s a film that has clearly touched people’s hearts and minds, and one that has captured critics’ imaginations, so it would appear that Christmas won’t be Christmas without seeing this…

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