Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
My parents and I went to see the latest ‘Little Women’ film at the cinema. This is the 2019 version, which was released on Boxing Day in December in the UK last year. I did wonder whether we would see this new film considering a previous ‘Little Women’ film had been made back in 1994. In the end, we did see it. 🙂
‘Little Women’ is based on the book by the American novelist Louisa May Alcott. It follows the lives of four sisters – Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy – who struggle in their lives from childhood to womanhood. It’s arguably considered an autobiographical work, loosely based on the author and her three sisters. 🙂
Like I said, a 1994 film adaptation had been made from the book, starring Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst of all people. There have been other film and TV adaptations over the years, but the 1994 film is the one I remember well. I did wonder another movie version of the original book was made.
The 2019 film adaptation is directed by Greta Gerwing, who previously directed the film ‘Lady Bird’. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Jo, the main protagonist in the film, along with Emma Watson as Meg, Eliza Scanlen as Beth and Florence Pugh as Amy. All four sisters stand out pretty well in this film.
I’ve seen Saoirse Ronan in films like ‘Atonement’ with Keira Knightley in 2007 and recently in ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’ with Margot Robbie in 2019. I’ve also seen Emma Watson as Hermione in the ‘Harry Potter’ movies as well as Belle in the 2017 live-action remake of ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Nice to see them!
It was interesting to see Florence Pugh both as the younger and older Amy March compared to how the 1994 film depicted the character. In that film, Amy was played by two actresses – Kirsten Dunst as the younger Amy and Samantha Mathis as the older Amy. Eliza Scanlen as Beth is the quieter and sympathetic sister.
The film also features Laura Dern as Marmee March, the mother of the four sisters in the film. ‘Star Wars’ fans would remember her (or not as the case may be) as Vice Admiral Holda in ‘The Last Jedi’. There’s also Bob Odenkirk as Father March, the four sisters’ daddy who appears halfway in the film.
There’s Timothée Chalamet as ‘Laurie’ Laurence, who becomes one of the four sisters’ love interests and he eventually marries one of them. 😀 There’s James Norton as John Brooke, who eventually marries Emma Watson’s Meg in the film. James Norton is well-known for being in ‘Grantchester’!
Ah, so this is what James Norton has been up to lately. As well as possibly being considered to play the next James Bond. 😀 There’s also Louis Garrel as Friederich Bhaer, a friend of Jo’s in New York, who somewhat criticises her story-writing and he doesn’t appear much aside from the beginning and the end.
There’s also Meryl Streep as Aunt March, who’s a domineering presence for the March sisters in the movie. 😀 There’s Tracy Letts as Mr. Dashwood and there’s Chris Cooper as Mr. Laurence. I made the mistake of thinking Mr. Dashwood was played by Michael Keaton. Tracy Letts looked just like him! 😀
On the whole, I enjoyed this movie. I found it disconcerting when we had to have flashbacks to and fro throughout the movie in terms of the story being told. I recall the 1994 film having a linear way of storytelling compared to the 2019 film. But it was made up for with some strong character drama.
The 2019 ‘Little Women’ film was nice to see at the cinema. My parents and I enjoyed it. If I were to watch the film again, I’d appreciate it more, despite the jarring flashback stuff that might make a casual viewer confused. Aside from that, the film is well-cast and it has a good happy ending.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim. 🙂
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