By Virginia Angle

The all-time classic novel Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, was recently again adapted into an impressive new film. Writer and director (and actress) Greta Gerwig refashioned the illustrious story to refresh and modernize it. For those not familiar with the story, it is a coming-of-age drama about four sisters and the trials and tribulations of each of their lives. The story evokes emboldening themes such as courage, perseverance, and determination. Set in the early 1860s in Concord, Massachusetts, a time when women were treated as inferior to men, the girls of the March family and their mother must learn how to fight for the things that they are passionate about, specifically their status as women. 

Jo March (Saoirse Ronan), one of the four sisters, embodies rebellion and defiance against the principles of being a woman at the time. For many years, since Little Women was first published in 1868, Jo has been regarded as, “wildly imaginative, unfashionably ambitious and mutinously ungroomed,” and “she has been the formative girl-crush for generations of wannabe writers with inky fingers and unravelling pigtails,” writes film critic Wendy Ide in The Guardian. Her indignant nature causes her to take pride in her refusal of things like marriage and beauty. An accomplished writer, Jo spends much of the film writing plays and stories in attempts to get published in the newspaper, a traditionally male-dominated profession. In the film, Gerwig uses Jo’s character to highlight feminism, a very relevant topic in modern times. “Gerwig’s film gently critiques the old-fashioned perception of marriage as an institution where men are financially expected to look after women,” says Tomris Laffly on rogerebert.com. With an audience living in a world where the perception of gender is rapidly changing, the traditional story brought a fiery approach to the hot topic.

Along with the themes that were portrayed in the film, the production itself was outstanding. “Gerwig’s boldest innovation is structural,” claims Vulture’s David Edelstein. Comprising a series of flashbacks and memories, the movie switches between warm and bright hues to represent the cheery time when all four girls lived at home and blue and somber tones to show the later and disheartening times. By shifting from the typical chronological style, Gerwig introduces a more diversified perspective than the classic novel, which tells the story in order. 

Little Women boasts an impressive and rich cast. Ronan’s ferocious personality takes an aggressive stand against feminism and to say that her character has audiences leaving the theater with a strong sense of empowerment would be an understatement. Walker Hill (‘20) said, “After leaving the theater, I felt empowered to follow my passions and create different paths for myself that have the ability to lead me in many directions.” Accompanying Ronan is Florence Pugh, playing Amy March. According to Richard Brody in The New Yorker, “Pugh’s performance as Amy comes closest to embodying the passion that the story evokes.” Her endearing passion and determination create an interesting power dynamic between Pugh and Ronan’s characters. Other actors include Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, and Timothée Chalamet. 

Being such a renowned classic, different renditions of Little Women have appeared on many screens, stages, and texts. The most recent notable version was the 1994 film with Stranger Things’ Winona Ryder playing Jo. It is held very close to many people’s hearts, so Gerwig’s interpretation definitely brought a sense of nostalgia to many people. My mom, Collegiate parent Eleanor Angle, says the film was “an endearing classic that I thoroughly enjoyed as it transported me back to my childhood. Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women was one of my favorite books as a child, and it was great seeing it transformed onto the screen again.” The film received a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and a five out of five on Common Sense Media.  The Guardian’s Ide says that “this is the freshest, most light-footed literary adaptation of the past year.”

Overall, I thought that every aspect of Gerwig’s version of Little Women was remarkable. Every costume was accurate of the time, every setting was detailed and eccentric, and every line was said with conviction and emotion.  As Brody says, “What emerges from Gerwig’s movie, though, is a strong sense, such as Alcott would not have dared to admit, that indignation is not just the natural lot of women but their rousing right.” This film inspired me to be more like each of the characters, especially Jo, motivating me to carry with me her spirit of rebellion.

All images courtesy of Columbia Pictures.