I think this may be the first filmed adaptation I have seen of the novel which gets the complicated nature of the characters and their relationships as much as I gleaned from the novel. I am a huge fan of Gillian Anderson's 1990s film version but I believe writer/director Gerwig has captured something remarkable here, a spark of writer Alcott's vision. As each moment would arrive, I would tingle with excitement, waiting to see if come to life. This is maybe the adaptation I have been waiting for.
Gerwig is rather bold in her take, deciding not to do a linear narrative and instead introduce her little women as adults who flash back to their childhood memories to explore who they are. It is in this use of memory that she gets deeper into the complex relationships between each of the figures. Jo and Amy's connections are so profoundly dissected through these moments, and their intricate love triangle with Laurie is played out so exquisitely, reaching places I haven't seen another adaptation accomplish. I love that Beth's journey isn't sidetracked as here she is more central to the story than I have seen her before. Gerwig's Beth is the impetus for Jo writing Little Women. And Meg gets her relationship to be more honest, more than just a moral lesson for Jo to learn from. Gergwig gives each of her women a true arc, the time jumping allows this to all happen within the film's run time as we see their moments connect across the years.
But at the centre of Little Women remains Jo, and her conflict between pursuing her passion for writing and the pressure to fall in love has never been more satisfying as it is here. Gerwig doesn't make Jo unfeeling, she makes her complicated, difficult, and remarkable. Her love for Laurie and Amy and Bhaer and the rest of her family is all there and is all complex, as is her passion to be her own person. The film's use of her novel to make an deliciously ambiguous ending, and ending which may be dismissed as a modern feminist trope, I think it a brilliant way to balance the tension between our desire for romance (as well as Jo's real desire to be loved) and our modern understanding for gender justice. Gerwig plays with whether or not what we are seeing as the film comes to a close is in Jo's story or in Jo's real life. I like that we don't necessarily know.
Gerwig also brings into the story the novel's desire for justice. Very much a story of liberation for women the story brings in ideas of liberation generally as it is part of who these people are. The story is set during the civil war and the Marchs believe strongly in that justice, whether it is the liberation of the poor or the abolition of slavery, this is a family that inspires us to be better in our on time.
Gerwig fills her cast out with some of the most talented actors of the time. Saoirse Ronan is her usual strong and scene stealing presence at the heart of the story as Jo but for me is was Florence Pugh as Amy who stole the show. She takes this rich character and truly digs her teeth into her, making her the most realized I have ever seen her. Timothee Chalamet is also strong, as always, playing all the complications of Laurie beautifully, and Laura Dern's Marmee is a pillar of strength with vulnerability lying always underneath. But the whole cast is powerful (I mean... Streep and Cooper) and really they all lift each other up to make an amazing ensemble.
What the film does show is a loving and complicated family of women and their interdependent relationships, the story of the young man who falls so helpless in love with who that family is, and the way that family of women changes the world around them. Gerwig has made a truly beautiful film that makes us look at this story in new ways and experience it as something brand new.
Little Women
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Timothee Chalamet, Emma Watson, Laura Dern, Eliza Scanlen, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel
Writer/Director: Greta Gerwig
No comments:
Post a Comment