Pikku naisia / Unga kvinnor.
US © 2019 Columbia Pictures / Monarchy Enterprises S.á.r.l. P: Denise Di Novi, Amy Pascal, Robin Swicord.
D+SC: Greta Gerwig – based on the novel (1868) by Louisa May Alcott. DP: Yorick Le Saux – colour – 1,85:1 – negative: 35 mm – source format: Super 35 – master format: 4K – release formats: 35 mm and D-Cinema. PD: Jess Gonchor. AD: Chris Farmer. Set dec: Claire Kaufman. Cost: Jacqueline Durran. Makeup: Judy Chin. Hair: Fríða Aradóttir. VFX: Matt Akey. M: Alexandre Desplat. S: Michael Feuser – Dolby Atmos. ED: Nick Houy. Casting: Kathy Driscoll, Francine Maisler.
C: Saoirse Ronan (Jo March), Emma Watson (Meg March), Florence Pugh (Amy March), Eliza Scanlen (Beth March), Laura Dern (Marmee March), Timothée Chalamet (Theodore "Laurie" Laurence), Tracy Letts (Mr. Dashwood), Bob Odenkirk (Father March), James Norton (John Brooke), Louis Garrel (Friedrich Bhaer), Jayne Houdyshell (Hannah), Chris Cooper (Mr. Laurence), Meryl Streep (Aunt March).
Loc: Massachusetts, US. Concord, Harvard, Gibbet Hill, Fruitland Museum, Castle Hill: Ipswich, Lawrence, Stoughton, William Hickling Prescott House, Boston, Lyman Estate: Waltham, Thayer Estate: Lancaster, Franklin. 6 Oct – Dec 2018.
135 min
New York premiere: 7 Dec 2019.
Finnish premiere: 31 Jan 2020 – released by SF Studios – Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Timo Porri / Hannele Vahtera.
DCP viewed at Kinopalatsi 7, Helsinki, 8 Feb 2020.
I have enjoyed all the major theatrical film adaptations of Little Women.
In 1933 the first sound adaptation was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by George Cukor, starring Katharine Hepburn as Jo with Joan Bennett as Amy and Paul Lukas as Professor Bhaer. It was a perfect Cukor-Hepburn vehicle and an engrossing growing-up story of a young woman as Cukor loved to make them. Hepburn created an unforgettable Jo.
I love even the glossy MGM Technicolor adaptation of 1949, directed by the studio workhorse Mervyn LeRoy with June Allyson as Jo and an all star cast including Elizabeth Taylor (Amy), Janet Leigh (Meg) and Mary Astor (Marmee). The lounge lizard Peter Lawford was cast as Laurie.
Even better was Gillian Armstrong's version of 1994 based on a screenplay by Robin Swicord. Winona Ryder was Jo, and Gabriel Byrne was Friedrich Bhaer. Trini Alvarado was Meg, Kirsten Dunst was Amy and Claire Danes was Beth. Christian Bale was Laurie, Eric Stoltz was John Brooke, and Susan Sarandon was Marmee. What a cast, and what a film. Directed by Armstrong it is a revelation to compare her Little Women with her debut feature film, My Brilliant Career, which presents a similar story set in Australia.
Now Greta Gerwig has created a fresh and original version based on a "double helix" dual temporal structure: we are in the present while looking back in the past. The original novel was published in England as two novels, the second being titled Good Wives.
Gerwig's concept introduces a new spin to the well-known story. Again there is a great cast: Saoirse Ronan (Jo), Emma Watson (Meg), Florence Pugh (Amy) and Eliza Scanlen (Beth) are the sisters, Laura Dern is Marmee, and Meryl Streep is Aunt March. It's a multi-character study. In the George Cukor version the narrative solution was to create a cycle of vignettes. Here the present is constantly being juxtaposed with the past. The present audience has gotten used to such juggling in fiction.
All sisters are individuals, each has her own way and approach in life. During the Civil War the Massachusetts-based March family lives in genteel poverty, but they are rich in love, joy and family spirit. Their Christmas breakfast they donate without hesitation to the truly poor Hummel family: shared joy is doubled joy. When Beth contracts scarlet fever (from the Hummel family) everybody takes care of her. And when father is wounded in the battlefield, Jo lets her beautiful hair be cut and sold so that Marmee can buy a train ticket. The Civil War is a matter of conviction for the March family who hate slavery: "My whole life I've been ashamed of my country", states Marmee.
Jo is determined to become a writer, starting with exercises "of the scandalous variety" in magazine stories and family drama club productions. Yet she already possesses Shakespeare's collected works. Reading for Beth she starts to develop her own approach, still doubting herself: "who'd be interested in domestic struggles?"
Dreaming of art and romance they are constantly reminded of financial facts of life. Aunt March, a rich widow, keeps reminding them. And Marmee sighs: "I'm angry nearly every day of my life". The little women are aware that "marriage is an economic proposition" and if a wife earns money it belongs to the husband. Jo keeps learning both the lessons of devotion to art and financial independence: she is a tough negotiator for the copyright terms of her novel.
I love all these interpretations, and they do not replace each other. In George Cukor's version I was moved by the compelling approach to the Pygmalion theme and the vision of old New York. In it, Jo visits the opera for the first time (inevitably, on display is Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor), and has the epiphany of great art. Friedrich is disappointed by the triviality of Jo's stories but sees her special talent and encourages her to write something real, something she knows first hand. In Greta Gerwig's version Jo's Bildungsroman is a more independent journey of self-discovery.
The physical production is wonderful: the cinematography by Yorick Le Saux in all four seasons, the production design by Jess Gonchor, the costumes by Jacqueline Durran and the hairdos by Fríða Aradóttir. The warm hues of Massachusetts have been caught on 35 mm film. It is a joy to the eyes.
But the most rewarding feature is the emotional truth. The better we learn to know the characters the more we care about them. A momentum of pure emotion keeps growing towards the conclusion.
BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: SOUNDTRACK LISTING FROM THE IMDB:
BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: SOUNDTRACK LISTING FROM THE IMDB:
Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15, No. 2
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Polonaise for Violin and Orchestra in B flat major, D. 580
Written by Franz Schubert
Waltz Op. 9, D. 365, No. 16
Written by Franz Schubert
Arranged by Colin Fowler
Waltz in A flat major, Op. 39, No. 15
Written by Johannes Brahms
Arranged by Colin Fowler
String Quartet No. 12 in F major 'American' Op. 96, No. 3 Molto vivace
Written by Antonín Dvorák
Performed by Skampa Quartet
Courtesy of SUPRAPHON a.s.
L'Étincelle, Op. 20
Written by Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Arranged by Colin Fowler
Mephistos Höllenrufe, Op. 101
Written by Johann Strauss (as Johann Strauss II)
Arranged by Colin Fowler
La reine de Saba, Act II - Waltz
Written by Charles Gounod
Arranged by Colin Fowler
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, 'Sonata Pathetique,' No. 2: Adagio cantabile
Written by Ludwig van Beethoven
Come, Ye Disconsolate
Written by Thomas Moore
Sheep May Safely Graze
from "The Birthday Cantata, No. 208"
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
Arranged by Colin Fowler
String Quartet No. 8, D. 112, III Menuetto: Allegro
Written by Franz Schubert
Papillons, Op. 2, No. 10: Waltz Vivo
Written by Robert Schumann
Kinderszenen, Op. 15, No. 1: Von fremden Ländern und Menschen
Written by Robert Schumann
5 German Dances, D. 90, No. 5 in C major
Written by Franz Schubert
Waltz D. 365, Op. 9, No. 6 in A flat major
Written by Franz Schubert
Lute Concerto in D major, RV 93, No. 2: Largo
Written by Antonio Vivaldi
Arranged by Colin Fowler
Hart's Lancers Quadrille: La Lodoiska
Written by Josef Binns Hart
Arranged by Colin Fowler
Hart's Lancer's Quadrille: La Finale
Written by Josef Binns Hart
Arranged by Colin Fowler
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