Cast: Saoirse Ronan (Jo March), Emma Watson (Meg March), Florence Pugh (Amy March), Timothée Chalamet (Laurie)
IMDB: 8.2
This movie is the 2019 adaptation of the book 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott. In the opening scene, we see a quote by the writer herself that indicates she has had a gloomy life and 'Little Women' in a way is her way of escaping that reality. It is evident in the movie that happiness is the desired element in everyone's lives and that is exactly what's delivered to us. The main character Jo March is a writer and she lives in a colourful household with the rest of her siblings and her mother. They are all striking girls at a time where girls are only meant to marry well and otherwise they're considered foolish. The movie revolves around the girls' lives, ambitions, struggles and how they're perceived by men and other women while emphasising their uniqueness. It is about how women are strong, interesting, striking beings and they can accomplish things, be strong and love, not when they have to, but when they really do.
Personal Thoughts: This movie was something special, hence my decision to come back to actually putting a bit of effort into this blog. It inspired me to wake up and write something about it which is a hard thing to do for me these days. I do love feminism as a theme and came across many different ways of approaching the topic. Little Women does this in a very cosy and lovely way that shows how sisters have a special bond and how each of them has ambitions that are considered unrealistic by others but supported by each other. I personally loved the fact that the girls had a world of their own and it attracted others without even trying which is shown in the scenes where Laurie, his tutor and his grandfather often look at the girls admiringly when they're being all lively and care-free. Another thing I would like to touch upon is how love is approached in the movie which was very real in a way. I was one of the people who expected (and really wanted) Laurie and Jo to end up together because their friendship was something special and it was evident how he cared about her and even though it wasn't too clear if she cared about him in the same way, I guess I hoped she would. I think this is how most people feel about these two characters perhaps because it is portrayed so well how Laurie is in love / heartbroken but all these aside, it is also admirable how he gets over it as well. However, if we look into the scenes, it's all about friendship and it is still something admirable to have, maybe even more admirable than romantic love which does fit the theme of the movie. On a side note, even though I liked the movie a lot, I did feel like it was a bit out of the blue when Jo was suddenly into Friedrich and Laurie was into Amy which only feels like an attempt to make a happy ending for all. It is realistic in a way though so I'm not too against it either. It's just that sometimes the book might explain it all whereas since the movie is a compressed version of the book some events have to be shown rather shortly so as a viewer we don't prefer how some things end up being and these two relationships were one of those things in the movie for me. Overall, it's realistic, heartwarming, funny and Timothée Chalamet looks super good so it gets a 9/10 from me.
Update: I read the book and it barely mentions any romance so the movie took a few liberties in that sense
P.S: I feel like Timothée Chalamet is made to be the soft boy in love in every movie with slight alterations in the character but he just does it so well that I don't even care. Also not to be a complete fangirl here but the scene where they were in a meadow was just so good I get how it's nominated for best picture (I'm putting it below)
