Not long after the rousing success of Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut, Lady Bird, it was announced she would be doing her own adaptation of Little Women. If the trailer made it seem like Gerwig would simply be replaying the greatest hits with different names attached, she surprised us by completely remixing the story for a modern audience that has fallen in love with the characters in one form or another.
Little Women is not the type of movie the Academy tends to actually award the crown of Best Picture too, but we would love to be wrong this year. Here are ten reasons Little Women deserves the honor of Best Picture this year.
Modern Without Anachronisms
It is no simple task to readapt one of the most adapted books of all time. It has had six film adaptations alone, not to mention a Broadway play, an opera, a ballet, and several TV mini-series. What could another adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic possibly do differently than the other many incarnations we’ve seen up to this point?
One thing was making the film feel resonant to 2019. Gerwig doesn’t simply turn up the volume on the feminism that was already present in the original text; she uses Jo as a form of conduit for Alcott herself, portraying more of the struggles she faced as a female author and single woman. In so doing, the struggles Jo and the other March sisters face don’t feel unique to the post-Civil War era; they feel universal.
More Equality With Sisters
Saoirse Ronan could have easily dominated the film on her own and made it the Jo Show as the 1994 version essentially does with its second half. Ronan has carried more than one film entirely on her own.
However, Gerwig manages to deftly balance the sisters in ways that we haven’t really seen before, giving each sister their due. Yes, Jo continues to be the lead, but we at least get more time with Meg, Amy, and Beth than we have in the past.
Amazing Costumes
Even in the moments where you may have found yourself not completely glued to the cast or the dialogue, how could you possibly take your eyes off the amazing costumes? Thanks to the hard work of costume designer Jacqueline Durran, there’s always something to keep your eyes on in Little Women.
Jo, in particular, has a wardrobe that reflects her tomboyishness in a new way that we haven’t yet been able to see. We’ve always known she’s wanted to be in the boys’ club and finally, she gets to look the part, too.
Messy Timeline
In previous film adaptations, the storytelling of the March family has been pretty straightforward going from their days as young girls into their adulthood. This time, though, it is a little disorienting at times to know exactly where we are in the timeline of their lives, and that’s a good thing.
Gerwig clearly knew that much of the audience coming into this adaptation would have either read the book or seen some other adaptation of the novel previously. She instead chooses to bounce back and forth between the older and younger versions of the March sisters, giving us more insight into the journeys they’ve each taken that have brought them to where they are.
Balances Star Power
Greta Gerwig’s Little Women has a murderer’s row of talent in every role. Even Mr. March, who has never had more than a few lines, is portrayed by Saul Goodman himself, Bob Odenkirk. And it’s almost impossible to cast Meryl Streep in a movie without it feeling like she steals the show.
But Gerwig uses these actors just briefly enough to remind us that they’re in the movie without making us feel like they hold the movie up. This is Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy’s story, not Marmee, Aunt March, or Mr. March’s, and we’re very grateful for that.
Reclaimed Amy
If there’s one March sister that has almost always been universally despised, it’s Amy. After committing the cardinal sin of burning Jo’s manuscript, most audiences probably wouldn’t have been too upset if the last time she was seen was drowning in the lake. OK, maybe past that, but by the time we see her as an adult, we stopped caring about her.
Florence Pugh may not have been able to make young Amy more likable, but she certainly made her a more complex character as an adult, one in search of stability in a world that promised her nothing. Instead of simply making her a one-dimensional gold-digger, Pugh plays her with a greater understanding of marriage and socioeconomic status and how their intersection. That’s an Amy we can get behind.
Not Too Saccharine
If there’s one thing no adaptation has been able to avoid is the movie equivalent of biting into a sugar cookie topped with an extra helping of sugar. Sure, it tastes good for a second until your brain realizes what’s happening and suddenly you feel like your tooth will instantaneously rot.
While Gerwig’s version definitely has sweetness, it doesn’t stray too far into gumdrops and rainbows territory. Gerwig balances those moments with heartbreak, frustration, and disappointment to remind us that no one in the March family has lived an entirely charming life.
Different Male-Female Dynamics
There are plenty of other choices for Best Picture that wrestle with the roles of men in the world and at home. Little Women is the only one that truly engages with the expected domestic roles of both men and women.
Gerwig could have taken Alcott’s original approach and made all the men insufferable (not a criticism of Alcott, to be clear), but she instead used her female characters to help the men around them see the struggles they face on a daily basis.
Characters That Aren’t Just Tragic
If there’s one character that has simply felt tragic, it’s Beth. She is mostly known for playing the piano, catching scarlet fever, and dying in early adulthood. Gerwig doesn’t change any of these events in her version, but by messing with the timeline, we feel the weight of Beth’s eventual death in an entirely new way.
Without getting into too many details, we get to see a new father-daughter relationship grow between Chris Cooper’s Mr. Laurence and Beth that hasn’t been greatly explored in the past. Seeing the bond that is forged through them and, by extension, the March family brings more dimension to their relationship than before.
Different Spin On Female Romance
In the 1994 film adaptation, Laurie proposes to Jo only to be rejected out of hand. When Laurie and Amy later elope, Jo brushes off the news as if she expected such a match to eventually be made. Not in Gerwig’s version. This time Jo truly feels conflicted and later regretful.
While the original ending remains mostly the same as previous versions, we see Jo not just as an accomplished writer, but one that is well aware of what marriage means for her and the characters she writes. It might be a more ambiguous ending as a result, but that makes it all the more rewarding.
