A One Mann’s Movies review of “Little Women” (2020).
Bob the Movie Man’s Rating:
Certification:
US: PG. UK: U.
Happy New Year to all followers of One Mann’s Movies! I’m starting the year with “Little Women”: Greta Gerwig‘s follow up to her Oscar-praised “Lady Bird” from 2017 looks set to repeat the job this year. For it’s nothing short of a masterpiece of cinema.
March comes in like a lion…
Louisa M. Alcott’s semi-autobiographical novel has been filmed before (in 1949 and 1994, together with a number of other TV versions). I’ve not seen any of these previous versions and (as a literary philistine) I’ve never read the book either. So the story was new to me and drew me in perfectly.
The March sisters – Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Meg (Emma Watson), Amy (Florence Pugh) and the youngest Beth (Eliza Scanlen) – are being brought up by their mother (Laura Dern) and Aunt (Meryl Streep) while their father (Bob Odenkirk) is away fighting in the Civil War. Also providing a helping hand is the rich neighbour Mr Lawrence (Chris Cooper), whose good-looking but indolent son ‘Laurie’ (Timothée Chalamet) has had the hots for tom-boy Jo for many years.
Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet in one of the most blisteringly dramatic scenes in the movie. (Source: Colombia Pictures)
Each of the girls has a talent: for Jo it’s writing, with her struggling to get her work past the grumpy publisher Mr Dashwood (Tracy Letts, from “Le Mans ’66“); for Meg it’s acting; for Amy it’s painting; and for Beth it’s music.
The film follows the lives, loves, successes and misfortunes of the sisters over two periods, split 7 years apart. It’s a bumpy ride for some.
Sisters three. Florence Pugh as Amy; Saoirse Ronan as Jo; and Emma Watson as Meg. (Source: Colombia Pictures)
Little Women is a Family film about a real family.
It struck me, as the big green BBFC certificate flashed onto the screen, how rare it is to find a “U – Suitable for all” certificate on a film these days. This is a film that the whole family *could* go and see. My only reservation here would be the way the film zips in and out of the two time periods at will. This might confuse the hell out of younger children. The subject matter of one part of the story may also disturb sensitive kids.
It’s a really old-fashioned film – full of melodrama, love, unrequited love, death, charity, ambition and kindness – that builds to a feel-good ending that was totally corny but felt perfect in every way. We need more of this in our lives.
Emma Watson is perfectly cast as the joyful and (normally) always content Meg. Here with James Norton. (Source: Colombia Pictures)
The Oscar Best Actress categories are going to be a bloodied battlefield this year!
Wow. Just wow. There have been some GREAT roles for women on screen in the last year, and the Academy will have a job on their hands to narrow the long-list to the short-list this year. I would have tentatively forecast that Renée Zellweger might have had the Best Actor Oscar wrapped up for “Judy“. But then here comes Saoirse Ronan. With phenomenal screen presence, she lights up every single scene she’s in. Emma Watson and Florence Pugh are great actresses (and both here stand a stab at the Supporting Actress category), but your gaze always falls straight back to Ronan’s reaction.
It’s also a wonderful performance for newcomer Eliza Scanlen as the youngster Beth: I heard director Greta Gerwig comment (on Edith Bowman‘s excellent Soundtracking podcast) that Eliza needed less lighting than anyone else on set as she was “naturally luminous”!
Naturally luminous. The rising star of Eliza Scanlen as Beth. (Source: Colombia Pictures)
Again lodging a cracking performance is the versatile Timothée Chalomet…. does the young chap make a bad film?
When you get to the end of the “cast bit”, and you haven’t mentioned Meryl Streep and Laura Dern yet, that says a lot!
Remarkably Prescient
What comes across more than anything else is just how apt this story is today to the ‘girl power’ times that we are currently living through. Jo in particular is the rebel of her day, fighting against the conformity of what it was in the time to be an independent woman, and specifically an independent working woman. Some of Alcott’s words from the book could even today act as a rallying cry to those looking for greater change.
This ‘attic club’ scene is hilarious. This look on Florence Pugh‘s face makes me laugh every time. With Eliza Scanlen (left) (Source: Colombia Pictures)
A glorious movie.
My reviewing year has certainly got off to a bang with this one. It’s a glorious movie, utterly absorbing with ravishing cinematography by Yorick Le Saux and a brilliant soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat: both I suspect likely to feature in Oscar nominations. It’s also likely to be nominated in other technical categories including Production Design, Costume and Hair & Makeup.
And I predict that this is inevitably going to be a Christmas favourite to match “The Sound of Music” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” in future years.
Comes with a highly recommended tag from me.
Postscript: Jan 5th 2020.
I went to see it again last night and loved it even more.
My brain was plugged into the shifting time narrative from the start which helped. The scenes which moved me last time absolutely shattered me this time. And I noticed so much more of the technical art put into the movie: the sound mixing during Ronan’s initial run through the New York streets is sublime; Le Saux’s use of colour to depict the past/present scenes; Desplat’s music moving from beach scene of the past to beach scene of the present; Steep’s withering put-downs with her eyes. I think it really IS a masterpiece.
For that reason I’m upping my original 4.5/5 rating to a full blown 5/5.
Bob the Movie Man’s Rating:
Trailer for Little Women:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AST2-4db4ic.
