In the March family each girl has a different talent. Jo is a writer, Amy is an artist, Margaret can act and Elizabeth plays the piano.
Blaine: Greta Gerwig grew up with Louisa May Alcott’s novel, “Little Women”. It was one of her top favorite books and she loved the March sisters so much that she wished they were her sisters. “Little Women” has been adapted into a film three times in the history of cinema, from 1933 to 1949 to 1994. Obviously the story is very popular. Producers were thinking about making another version of “Little Women” and when Greta Gerwig heard the news, she went straight to them saying she was going to do this project. Greta Gerwig couldn’t have picked a better time because the producers were about to cancel the project.
Greta knew the story very well after reading it several times and she knew how she wanted her version to go. At the time, Greta was known just as an actress. She hadn’t made her first feature, “Lady Bird”, yet, so no one knew what she was capable of as a director. But Greta showed a lot of passion about doing “Little Women” and she made it convincing to the producers that she was right for the project. “Little Women” means so much to Greta.
“Little Women” is a two part book series, showing the past and present. Instead of having the story go straight forward, Greta decided to mix things up and have the past and present cut back and forth. The past shows the girls together and very energetic and the present shows them in their separate ways. The most important thing to Greta was to show a story about women with talent. These women are artists and Greta wanted their work to be taken seriously.
Greta Gerwig loves the feeling of colors and she wanted “Little Women” to have a lot of color to it. The look of the present is average, where as the past is warm. When it shows the girls celebrating Christmas day, the look is so warm that it looks like gold. Greta Gerwig was impressed with the work her cinematographer Yorick Le Saux was putting into the shots. One of my favorite shots in the movie is when Emma Watson’s character is with these other girls and they are all lined up through the staircase wearing bright colored dresses. Their dresses remind me of Easter Eggs.
A lot of filmmakers who have made period films find the look of the film through paintings from that time period because they show history and Greta Gerwig and cinematographer Yorick Le Saux looked through tons of paintings and old photographs in order to figure out their look for “Little Women”
The girls don’t get gifts on Christmas because the family can’t afford them, but that doesn’t matter as long as they have a house, food and each other. And the most important thing they have is being gifted with these talents. The girls always know how to have a good time because they have fun at being creative. They start off as an all girls group, but after spending time with Laurie Laurence and getting to know him, they invite him into the club and he is the first man to be welcomed.
The March girls father, played by Bob Odenkirk, is fighting in the Civil War. He writes to his family. If it was modern day they could just call Saul.
People have been saying that Greta’s version of “Little Women” is a little bit more punk rock and now I know why. Laurie asks Jo if she will dance with him, but Jo doesn’t want the other guests at the party to see this stain she has on her dress. Laurie has an idea of how they can dance without anyone else making eye contact at them. They dance outside the building and they jump as though they are listening to punk rock on a stereo.
Jo March is doing everything she can to become a successful writer and she won’t stop until her dreams come true. She fights hard with her spirit. Jo’s work is everything to her and she devotes herself to her stories. Not to mention she puts a lot of hours into writing every single page. Jo knows her stuff is good. Jo does take things personal at times. Jo is in New York trying to get her work published and she’ll ask for a few opinions. Jo doesn’t like it that her friend, Friedrich, doesn’t like some of the stuff he has read. Jo says a line in that scene that I like a lot, about how artists are remembered through the stuff they create and how critics are just people who give their opinion.
Greta was reunited with her “Lady Bird” actors, Saoirse Ronan and Timothee Chalamet, because they made a great team. The part of Margaret was originally going to be played by Emma Stone, but she had to drop out for unknown reasons and the studio thought fast and got another Emma……….Emma Watson to be exact. And for Amy, Greta couldn’t think of anyone else playing the part than Florence Pugh. Greta was very observant on Florence Pugh after seeing her in “Lady Macbeth” and while trying to get in contact with her, Greta loved Florence’s voice mail and how she performed in it. Florence had proven she was meant for the part before Greta got to meet her in person.
Amy starts off as a child in the first half of “Little Women” and she’s an adult in the second half. Florence plays both versions of Amy in Greta’s version. Florence shows the different sides of Amy, like acting like a brat in the past and being this responsible adult in the present. Florence couldn’t make it to rehearsals, but she’s a very skilled actress and she was able to pull off a great performance. Both Jo and Amy March are very wise and speak for themselves. Amy doesn’t start off that way, but she takes after Jo. Amy is someone else in the present compared to who she is in the past. People go through changes as they grow up and their personalities become different. A lot of the things in the present look average. But with Amy it’s different. Amy is with her Aunt March, played by Meryl Streep, in Paris working on her art. The first time we see Amy is her adult self and she’s at a park painting what she sees. And the look of the shot is warm. And as we continue to see how things are going for Amy in Paris, the looks change. It’s more of a white look now.
Amy and Jo have had arguments and one night Amy takes things too far. She burns pages of a novel Jo has been working on and when Jo finds out she is devastated and furious with Amy. Amy sees the look on Jo’s face and that fills her up with regret. Amy has hurt Jo in the worst way anyone could do. The look in Jo’s eyes haunt Amy, when she looks right at her saying she will never forgive her. Amy didn’t realize how much those pages meant to Jo. One person’s project is a piece of themself and Amy should know that because she puts a lot into her art. Amy feels terrible and she’ll do anything to make Jo forgive her. Amy goes after Jo as she and Laurie ice skate. Amy can’t ice skate very good, but she goes into the ice anyway. The ice breaks and Amy almost drowns. Jo and Laurie pull Amy out and Jo realizes how desperate Amy is for her forgiveness, even if she has to put her life in danger. Jo and Amy put the past behind and love each other again as sisters.
Laurie is the type of character who shows up everywhere. He feels like an important male figure to the girls. Laurie takes a huge liking to Jo as soon as they meet and he also grows fond of the family. The March family are the best people to come into Laurie’s life. Laurie’s grandfather is the only family he has because his parents are dead. Laurie also has a tutor and he is like a member of the Laurence family. The Laurence family spends a lot of quality time with their neighbors, the March family, and both families become one.
“Little Women” shows that the characters have two choices in life, sharing your life with someone or achieving a career. And the girls really think about what is best for them in life. Maybe they want romance in their lives, but first they want to think about achieving what they are so passionate about. They really think things through about what’s best for them. If they are going to be with a man they want to get to know them first and see how things turn out between them. Margaret spends a lot of time with Laurie’s tutor and she is convinced that he is the right man for her. Acting was the dream for Margaret, but now she has a new dream and that is to get married. Jo asks Margaret if that’s a good idea, but dreams can change for some people. Everyone has their own free will to do whatever. Margaret wants to get married and with Jo writing is her only love.
Laurie asks Jo to marry him, but she declines, even though the two of them have known each other for a while and are close, still Jo senses that things wouldn’t work out between them as a married couple and she doesn’t want that ruining their friendship. Jo wants to be a writer in life and she doesn’t know if romance should get in the way. Jo does feel love, but more in a caring way. Jo doesn’t even think she is the marrying type, but no one knows what the future holds in store for them.
Laurie feels love for Jo, but later on he realizes that what he feels for Jo isn’t true love. Laurie will find love and it will be with someone who’s last name is March. While Amy is in Paris, she bumps into Laurie and they spend a lot of quality time together. Of course Laurie blows it the first night that he and Amy are supposed to go out. From the moment her eyes saw Laurie for the first time, Amy has been in love with him. But now that Amy is an adult she knows that looks are not everything. It’s also about who that person is on the inside. Amy is also focussed on the things that matter most in life. Laurie doesn’t act responsible the first time. He gets himself drunk. Amy wants a man, not a boy. Amy challenges Laurie by making him think about life and what he wants the most out of it. Amy is amazing and Laurie realizes that she is his soul mate. Thing is Amy is already involved with another man. Laurie doesn’t want Laurie to marry her boyfriend because Laurie doesn’t want to be with anyone else and he is positive Amy is right for him. If Laurie can’t have her, then he’ll die a single man. Laurie has been close with the March family for years and he has been nothing but kind to the whole family. Laurie was disappointed that Jo turned him down, but he realizes it was for the best. Love is about finding your perfect match. Amy has brought out so much more in Laurie through the time they have spent together. Amy’s boyfriend proposes, but she declines and it’s cool how they shot that. Seeing those two from a distance, with the trees on both sides. Anyway, Amy realizes that Laurie is the only man for her. So Amy and Laurie devote themselves to nobody else but each other.
Elizabeth is the shy one of the group, but she’s not afraid to say stuff like thank you whenever someone deserves it and if she really wants something she’ll speak up for herself. She also expresses herself through the piano. Laurie’s grandfather, Mr. Laurence, does something nice for the March family and in return he asks if someone play the piano in his house instead of just sitting there all day collecting dust. Elizabeth loves nothing more than to play the piano. I think what Mr. Laurence really wants is to hear a beautiful sound and Elizabeth knows music. She plays the music from her heart and the notes she plays are the beautiful to listen to for Mr. Laurence. The shot of Elizabeth when she plays that piano for the first time is backlit, semi-silhouette with some detail in the room.
Mr. Laurence is very fond of the March family, but he likes Elizabeth’s presence the most because he sees his late daughter in her. Mr. Laurence daughter died of an illness and Elizabeth ends up being a lot like his daughter. I mean Elizabeth herself gets very ill. Elizabeth manages to survive the first round, but years later her illness comes back and she is no more after that. Before she died, Elizabeth wanted Jo to continue writing. Jo was having a bit of difficulties after being rejected in New York, but Elizabeth knows she’s a fantastic writer after spending her whole life writing. Jo is a professional. Jo spends numerous hours writing a new novel and I believe she is dedicated it to her sister.
There’s a couple of scenes I think are well edited. At Elizabeth’s funeral there’s a shot that focusses on Saoirse Ronan from her right side and she is shaded by trees. Then it cuts to the past again where things are warm and bright. The camera is focussing on Saoirse in the same position as the previous shot from a second ago. And Saoirse looks different, but the position she is in is the same as well. Another well edited scene is showing Amy with her Aunt. The scene starts off with Amy from the past. She listens to what her Aunt has to say and when Amy leaves the room it cuts to Amy entering a room in present day and the look of it is white.
The work Jo has been putting into her novel are not going to be in vain because her novel is going to get published. She put her soul into this and made a promise to Elizabeth. Jo watches as the first copy of her novel gets published and when she holds the copy, it’s like holding the most valuable thing in the world, like a priceless jewel. Like I said a person’s work is a piece of themselves. Jo wants to put together her own school for gifted children and Amy and Margaret ask if that’s what she really wants because writing is the only thing she has devoted her life to. But a lot of authors are teachers and as much as Jo loves writing she also loves the creative arts and being surrounded by it. Her sisters have it, she has it.
Jo’s New York friend, Friedrich Bhaer, pays her and the family a visit. Amy and everyone else notice how Jo behaves around him and they can sense it’s love. Jo has been so focussed on her work that she doesn’t ask herself what love is truly like. Jo has been ignoring her true feelings for Friedrich Bhaer and he feels something for her too. As important as a career is, still it doesn’t hurt to also have a life.
Things are lightening up, which means the look is warm again. The gang’s all back together, Jo is achieving her goal in becoming a writer and love is in the air. The future is coming.
Greta Gerwig’s version of “Little Women” is very strong with having women who are positive and very intelligent in what life is all about. It’s also very artsy, and my rating on “Little Women” is five out of five stars.
