Last week we were gifted tickets to an advanced screening of Greta Gerwig's Little Women by the wonderful Trustees of Reservations, who operate some of the gorgeous locations that add to the film's charm. It was particularly special for us to watch the film together because we have so many fond memories from adventures we've shared at some of these same historic sites. Concord holds a dear place in our hearts not only as a couple, but as writers and historians. Every year for our anniversary on Halloween, we visit our friends the Alcotts, Hawthornes, Emersons, and Thoreaus at Sleepy Hollow Cemetary's Author's Ridge.
Although Isabella didn't grow up reading Little Women, as many before her have, and has instead become acquainted (and in her mind, dear friends) with Louisa May Alcott as an adult, the kinship she feels with Louisa, especially as a writer, runs deep. And it is astronomically clear that Greta Gerwig shares that bond of devotion to our beloved Louisa and the Alcott family.
Everything about the film is pure magic, from Gerwig's script, the acting, and historic locations, to the score and costumes—every detail is not only thought out but expertly curated with love and care. All of this makes Little Women a dynamic film as powerful as it is beautiful. The movie says a lot about what it means to be a woman, what it means to be a man, and what it means to support friends, family, and those we hold dear.
The fact that this film is the first adaption of Louisa May Alcott's famous novel to be filmed in Massachusetts adds a real sense of place, the knowledge that when you see these beautiful shots, you're seeing them almost as Louisa did, or as close to it as you can get. The film was shot all across Massachusetts, and in Concord the crew built a replica of Louisa's real home,Orchard House, where she wrote the novel.
The heavy-hitting cast includes notables such as Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet, Emma Dern, Saoirse Ronan, and up-and-comers like Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlen, as well as the ineffable Meryl Streep. This cast pulls no punches as they give some of the most moving performances of the year.
This film is not only the best and most sincere of the adaptions of the novel, thanks to the actors and Greta Gerwig, (really, a big thanks to Greta Gerwig for her devotion to authenticity) but it is something that hits on what it means to be human. This film is not a film of four women going through domestic tribulations, but a testament to how our society is and how it should be that is as true today as it was when the book was first written.
The jokes are subtle and hysterical, some said under a character's breath, the emotion hits you in the face (as witnessed by the amount of sniffling and downright sobbing in the theater), and the truth of the matter is that this film will not be given the recognition that it deserves. This is not a film for girls or women, but a film for every person, as important for men to see as for women. As Timothée Chalamet recently said on The Tonight Show, "Boys, guys, everyone should see this movie because it gets at the pursuit of artistry, [and] what it means to be human."
The costumes and music are authentic and beautiful, and both end up adding more to the story than could be put in words. Jacqueline Durran has created costumes that are the perfect blend of history and whimsy (and Isabella wants to add that she would gladly wear every single costume in this film on a daily basis.) Alexandre Desplat succeeds in moving the audience to tears with his symphonic sorcery as the score weaves its way in and out of the narrative.
Greta Gerwig has said that she grew up reading Little Women and so when asked if this movie was difficult to film, she responded saying that Little Women is a story that she deeply connects to, having read it and loved it all her life. When she talks about the movie it becomes clear how much it means to her and how much her own heart and soul has gone into the making of this phenomenal piece of cinema.
This film shows the power of women, the intelligence, cunning, creativity, not just the beauty of femininity that women are so often lumped into, as Jo March's moving speech sums up so eloquently, "Women, they have minds and they have souls as well as just hearts and they've got ambition and they've got talent as well as just beauty, and I'm so sick of people just saying that love is all a woman is fit for."
Little Women hits theaters December 25, 2019.