Little Women

Wow!

The first film I watched (at the cinema) in this new decade is not only a four-star top-ten delight, but an instant classic (like the novel by Louisa May Alcott in 1868) that can be recommended to all. And it’s a Hollywood film, no less.

Equal to the four-star classic from 1933 (that I loved when I was young), and superior to all the remakes made since then, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women brings the story of a Massachusetts family’s life during and after the American Civil War into the 21st century while keeping it grounded in the 19th. 

Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen star as Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth, the March sisters, whose strong-minded intelligence and independent spirit are a cry for the empowerment of women that, unfortunately, still feels as relevant today as it did 150 years ago. 

The acting is terrific by all concerned, with Pugh the standout among the likes of Meryl Streep (Aunt March), Timothée Chalamet (Theodore “Laurie” Laurence, the neighbour boy), Chris Cooper (James Laurence, Laurie’s grandfather) and Laura Dern (Marmee, the girls’ mother). 

Gerwig brilliantly restructures the narrative of Little Women to give us a film that weaves constantly back and forth between the present and the past. Not everyone will appreciate this, but it worked for me. The gorgeous cinematography aids the viewer with a subtle use of colour signalling the change in time.

The film has a lot of humour, not least when it reveals an ability to be self-mocking, but it was the more serious scenes that impressed me. There are also many things to think about in this film (Little Women has a lot to say about the challenges of being a woman then and now).

Little Women isn’t flawless. The first half felt distinctly less engaging than the second half, possibly because it seemed to take its message of social justice, and indeed the poverty of the March family, too lightly. Overall, however, the film is so well-crafted, so intelligent, and so full of joy, love, passion and sympathetic characters, while highlighting the importance of family and community in a wise and gentle way, that it becomes a masterpiece - the kind of film that is so rare these days (I am a fan of old-fashioned films). 

In a year and a decade when Hollywood has delivered so much junk food for the masses, it’s amazing that a film like this can still be made. Little Women gets ****. My mug is up.