Little Women | Film Review

Hey Guys x

I remember when this film came out a little while ago, and it was never on my 'to watch' list, especially going to see it at the cinema. It never seemed like my kind of thing. But because it's been nominated for Best Picture, I went to see it last week, hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

The March sisters are dealing with a lot during the Civil War. But when they grow up and start to go their separate ways, youngest sister Beth's (Eliza Scanlen) devastating illness forces the three remaining sisters to come back to the place where they grew up.

So as I said, I went into this expecting it to not be my cup of tea, and unfortunately that's how I left the cinema.

Although I studied English Literature in university, this was one of the books that completely bypassed me, so I went into this knowing practically nothing about the story, other than what Rachel tells Joey in an episode of Friends.

For a start, the story is told in a non-linear way. And while there were some moments when it was clear what time period a certain scene was taking place in (thanks to the lighting and/or hairstyles), for the most part, I found this a bit confusing. For most of the time-switching scenes, it took me out of the film because I had to spend a few minutes trying to work out what had already happened at this point.

I also just didn't feel like I could particularly relate to the story. Of course, the story is based on the book of the same name by Louisa May Alcott, and if I'm not mistaken the film keeps pretty close to the book. Because of this, the things I couldn't relate to are not the fault of director Greta Gerwig. However, after an hour of seeing that these girl's 'awful' lives weren't really that awful at all, I lost any sympathy I had for them, and stopped seeing them as 'heroines' of the story.

One of the reasons that I stopped seeing these women as 'heroines' was because of the characters themselves. Of the four sisters, the two that the film really focuses on are Jo (Saoirse Ronan) and Amy (Florence Pugh). These girls are opposites in terms of how they are presented in the film, and they are played brilliantly by the respective actresses.
But for me, because of the way that the girls were presented, I felt like if we liked one, we had to see the other as a 'villain' and vice versa. For example, I found that the character of Amy was quite a likeable character until Jo came onto the screen, and this felt like it went deeper than sibling rivalry. I kind of wanted the chance to see both girls in a good light at the same time. I guess I didn't like the way that these two characters were such that they couldn't really exist without each other. I wanted to feel like they were people in their own right, and I never really did. Especially when boys and love come into the equation.

In addition, the film tried to change the girl's hairstyles and then tell us that this was a sign that they had grown. But I didn't really notice any major character development in any of the characters - particularly Amy who was the one that needed it the most. By the time the film ends, you get the feeling that she is the exact same person she always was, but this time someone had picked her. But for me, there should be more to the character of Amy than getting picked by a boy.

Speaking of boys and love, I have to mention Laurie, played by Timothee Chalamet. I have seen Chalamet in a few things but I've never really liked him in anything I've seen. This was the first time that I've actually really liked him in a movie, to the point where I'd say that he was the best thing about it. While the characters of Amy and Jo were complicated and hard to read, he was simple, and I liked that about him. A character like Laurie is exactly what a film like this needs.

Other than Amy, Jo and Laurie, the rest of the characters were pretty much non-entities. We know that Beth likes to play the piano, and Meg (Emma Watson) is the most traditional and 'girly' of the girls, but there's no point when we actually get to know the oldest and youngest March sisters, and I feel like them having more of a story-line (particularly Beth) would have added so much to the story. And this also goes for Laura Dern's character, Marmee, who was pretty non-existent.

However, something about the movie that stood out to me was the realism of these sisters when they were all in scenes together, teasing each other, talking over each other. It felt like you were sitting in the home of four real sisters, watching the developments of their lives. When the film wasn't trying to force you to feel things, that's when true feelings develop.

Overall, as you can tell, I didn't love the film, and I probably won't watch it again once the Oscars are over. However, so many people loved it for a reason - it's a good film and it has an important message behind it.

5/10

Lou