Little Women * * * * ½
Little Women.... and little old me, the token male. Such was the audience at the Sunday afternoon screening I went to. Mind you, it was at the local Multiplex rather than my usual namby-pamby Arthouse cinema.
I remember reading recently that there has been a concern about this. The film is doing great guns and getting brilliant reviews but the audience has been somewhat gender unbalanced. Ah well, today I made a contribution to help fix that.
The plain truth is, it's not a "chick flick". It's simply a good film. A very fine drama and well deserving of the accolades it has been receiving.
Whether she's writing, acting or directing, Greta Gerwig never fails to impress. She's some kind of talent that girl!
The story is adapted from an old well regarded novel, which I don't suppose too many of today's generation have read (though I might be wrong). It's about four sisters who live in modest circumstances but are doing okay. Dad has had to go fight in the American Civil War, but Mum is still at home along with the beloved maid. Their rich Aunt condescends to visit sometimes.
The girls have aspirations to write, to act, to paint, to be play music.
Rather than strict chronology The story is told in both present time and their past, which is just a little bit confusing in the first fifteen minutes, but you quickly get used to it. More importantly you quickly get to know the characters. By the half hour mark you feel completely enmeshed in their lives. If someone had said to me "How do you think things are going to work out for Amy?", I'd have said, "I don't know but I'm not leaving till I find out!".
For the last hour it escalates to a point where you seem to feel part of their household. As concerned and wanting be involved as their neighbors, who play no small part in this drama.
It's a truly lovely piece of work.
Anyone who knows Greta Gerwig's work might think this is an eccentric choice of writer / director. But it's the right one. With anyone else this could have become just a forgettable, costume drama. With her script and direction - along with her excellent cast - it's become something really quite wonderful.
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| Thanks Flip. We packed you a picnic. |
The plain truth is, it's not a "chick flick". It's simply a good film. A very fine drama and well deserving of the accolades it has been receiving.
Whether she's writing, acting or directing, Greta Gerwig never fails to impress. She's some kind of talent that girl!
The story is adapted from an old well regarded novel, which I don't suppose too many of today's generation have read (though I might be wrong). It's about four sisters who live in modest circumstances but are doing okay. Dad has had to go fight in the American Civil War, but Mum is still at home along with the beloved maid. Their rich Aunt condescends to visit sometimes.
The girls have aspirations to write, to act, to paint, to be play music.
Rather than strict chronology The story is told in both present time and their past, which is just a little bit confusing in the first fifteen minutes, but you quickly get used to it. More importantly you quickly get to know the characters. By the half hour mark you feel completely enmeshed in their lives. If someone had said to me "How do you think things are going to work out for Amy?", I'd have said, "I don't know but I'm not leaving till I find out!".
For the last hour it escalates to a point where you seem to feel part of their household. As concerned and wanting be involved as their neighbors, who play no small part in this drama.
It's a truly lovely piece of work.
Anyone who knows Greta Gerwig's work might think this is an eccentric choice of writer / director. But it's the right one. With anyone else this could have become just a forgettable, costume drama. With her script and direction - along with her excellent cast - it's become something really quite wonderful.
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