Little Women

Genre: historical coming-of-age drama

With: Winona Ryder (Josephine ‟Jo” March), Trini Alvarado (Margaret ‟Meg” March), Samantha Mathis (Older Amy), Kirsten Dunst (Younger Amy), Claire Danes (Beth March), Christian Bale (Theodore ‟Laurie” Laurence), Eric Stoltz (John Brooke), John Neville (Mr. Laurence), Susan Sarandon (Mrs. Abigail ‟Marmee” March), Florence Paterson (Hannah), Gabriel Byrne (Friedrich Bhaer)

Director: Gillian Armstrong

Screenplay: Robin Swicord (based on Louisa May Alcott's novel)

Release: 1994

Studio: DiNovi Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation

Rating: PG

MBiS score: 8.1/10

 

 

‟I am longing for transformation.”

 

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Story-line: Concord (Mass.) during the Civil War. Jo, a budding writer and the most spirited of the four March sisters, recounts the problems faced by her family while their father was serving in the army.

Pluses: an evenly competent cast led by Winona Ryder (as the direct, enterprising Jo), Kirsten Dunst (the rascally Amy), Christian Bale, Trini Alvarado, Claire Danes and Gabriel Byrne, adroit direction, a clean, sturdy and disciplined screenplay featuring juicy dialogues and highlighting the different personalities of the March girls, polished cinematography, irreproachable production values and a touching musical score by Thomas Newman.

Minuses: after a cutesy, distant and anecdotal first half that belies the family’s predicament (and the risks incurred by the father at war), the film picks up the slack with a noble and more dramatic second half. 

Comments: at this point in movie history, it must be a special challenge to tackle LITTLE WOMEN, considering the novel’s hallowed place in American literature and the number of filmed versions Hollywood has produced (this was the third, after those in 1933 and 1949, with the most recent in 2019). And the challenge was met handsomely by Gillian Armstrong and a lovely group of young actresses who went on to greater things after their portrayal of the March sisters. On a moral level, I’ll give credit to LITTLE WOMEN for its wholesomeness, social conscience and strong insights about life’s pivotal moments. Variety, they say, is the spice of life… and movie buffs won’t regret seeing this kind of heartfelt cinema.      

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