Little Women - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Little Women



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Little Women is probably one of the most iconicized feminine authored novels out there, and has been a stable of schools and literary lists for the last 100+ years. I grew up liking Little Men first simply due to the fact that I resonated with the male dominate subject matter of Louisa May Alcott’s second book in the unofficial “Little Women” trilogy, but later gained an appreciation for the book that started it all. The book has been adapted into multiple films, several stage plays, and even a modern TV show as well (which didn’t fare too well), but I think I’ll always remember the 1994 movie with Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst as being my absolute favorite. It was a fantastic adaptation that kept the heart and the soul of the book intact, while filling out the screen with wonderful performances all around (I keep forgetting that Kirsten Dunst was such a young girl back then). However, Greta Gerwig’s adaptation is now my second favorite, as she keeps the same heart and soul intact in her retelling, but highlights a few different angles and fleshes out one of my favorite characters from the book instead of relegating her to the background like so many other adaptations do.

Little Women was nominated for 6 academy awards, but sadly only won a single one. An award for best costume designer. While it didn’t get best picture like fans were hoping, this new adaptation of the iconic classic is still a wonderful period piece drama that highlights the trials and tribulations of 4 young women coming of age in nuanced, yet sweet and beautiful manner midst the horrors of the civil war era.

The March sisters, the obstinate Amy (Florence Pugh), sweet and kind Beth (Eliza Scanlen), the headstrong and tomboyish Jo (Saoirse Ronan), and the gorgeously vain Meg (Emma Watson), are all living in the final days of the infamous American Civil War. Their father (Bob Odenkirk) is away at the Union front, while his wife, Marmee (Laura Dern), raises the four girls on her own. With the war winding down the 4 girls are on the edge of adulthood and branching out into what their lives will be someday. With the addition of the young nephew of the well to do neighbor we have a slight romantic twist to their lives. The young Theodore “Laurie” Laurence (Timothee Chalamet) immediately falls head over heels for Jo, who doesn’t exactly reciprocate in the same manner. She’s more interested in her writing and frustrated with the inequity of woman’s lack of perceived worth outside of beauty and marriage.

Young Meg may be vain and slightly conceited, but she soon falls in love with a young tutor who offers her nothing but his heart, and Beth passes away due to the (then) deadly scarlet fever, leaving only young Amy to be the “savior” of the 4 women and marry into a wealthy family and solidify their family’s future (at least according to their wealthy Aunt March, played fabulously by Meryl Streep).

One of the most challenging aspects of any adaptation of a classic work of fiction, especially one that has been adapted so many times, is making sure that it takes the heart and soul of the original work, and being VERY careful on what to discard. In this case director/writer Greta Gerwig does a really good job, as she pulls nuances from the different characters to the forefront, still keeping the original story intact, but adding new weight and gravitas to other characters. One of the most important (to me) and exciting things she did was bring Amy out of the shadows. In previous adaptations Amy is seen as the least favorable sister (she was kind of the bratty and catty one in the book during her younger days), but here Gerwig fleshes her out to be one of the most prominent and powerful ones. A choice I actually agree with as she was one of my favorites from the book. She and Jo act as foils to each other throughout the story, even sharing the same love interest at differing times. Jo was basically a fictional version of Louisa May Alcott, who wanted the character of Jo to be a literary spinster like she was in the end. However the publisher famously forced her to alter the ending to end in a marriage so that young girls could get the romantic ending they thought was needed to sell the work. As such Jo is a tomboyish and suffragette who doesn’t feel the need to use her femininity as power, but rather adopt some of the more “masculine” qualities of the day bring herself the attention needed to publish her works. On the other hand Amy is just as powerful, and just as aggressive as Jo is, but instead of adopting more masculine characteristics, she uses her femininity to her advantage. Courting and marrying someone of richer status to gain the power she needs in life. Both are sweet and loving characters in their own way, but Gerwig really shows a massively empowered Amy who isn’t dominate, but also neither a pushover either. She recognizes the intrinsic bartering system that was akin to marriage back in the 1800s, and uses that to her advantage, with seemingly good results..

While I’ve harped on Amy and Jo for the last paragraph, the rest of the cast does a superb job. Emma Watson is solid as Meg (though I feel Watson’s rather bland acting range keeps Meg from being fleshed out fully) and Scanlen is adorable as the sweet little sister Beth. But not to be forgotten, both Meryl Streep and Laura Dern shine as the older March women. Streeps decades of Oscar winning performances gives her the background to play the stodgy and aristocratic Aunt March, and Laura Dern plays mother Marmee as an under rated gem. The single line about “being angry all the time but not saying it” holds incredible power and punch when you realize that even though she puts on a sweet face, being mother to 4 girls in an era of war and the need for suffrage had her balling up her fists and biting her tongue while smiling on the outside.

The odd structure of Little Women is a bit awkward when compared to previous iterations, but it actually works rather well. Greta Gerwig employs a “past/present” split timeline to tell the story, jumping us back and forth through time to let the tale unfold. At first it was a bit off putting and I felt was going to be a detriment, but letting us jump around allows the story to move forward, yet also anchor us in the present ending that we all know is coming if we’ve read the book. It keeps the story from becoming stale and boring, as we’ve all seen how it ends up countless times with plays, movies and TV shows. A clever move, and one that could easily have backfired on the fledgling director, but luckily didn’t.




Rating:

Rated PG for thematic elements and brief smoking.




Video:

I’m actually shocked that Sony didn’t deign to put Little Women out on 4K UHD. It was the perfect candidate being an academy award winner that made 5 times it’s budget, AND was shot on film and given a 4K native master for the Blu-ray. Still, the Blu-ray is no slouch as the film based source material looking amazing and natural on Blu-ray. The film grain is very tight and clean, allowing the film to look like actual FILM, while still not be swarming in visual grain. The period piece setting for the movie is enhanced by the organic look of the 35mm film, and the slightly overblown white’s (usually light streaming through a window) and the lavish set pieces make for an amazing looking image. The first shot where Jo is going into the publisher’s house is a bit soft and dreamy looking, but once we’re out of there the image sharpens up dramatically. Shots such as where Jo is putting her love letter to Laurie into the mailbox is jaw dropping, with bright primaries contrasted against the snowy terrain. Backgrounds are amazing, with the only problematic issue being some minor (and I mean minor) banding that shows up and some occasional black crush inside of a dimly lit house.



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Audio:

For being a drama, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track on the disc is surprisingly active and robust. The melodic score that amps up when Jo is running home from the publisher in the opening scene immediately sucks you into the world of the March family, with a genuinely active surround mix that showcases the many nuances of 1860s life. Bustling New York City is active and engaging, while the soft and quieter March house still is filled with background shuffling and rustling of dresses. Parties liven things up a bit and add some bass, while the dialog is above reproach in every scene. All in all, a fantastic mix that does really well for being a “basic” (by today’s standards) 5.1 mix.









Extras:

• A New Generation of Little Women: The superb cast recreated the beloved world of the March family with realism, humor and vulnerability
• Making a Modern Classic: The film combines its modern elements—kinetic camerawork and overlapping dialogue—with the historically authentic bespoke costumes, sets and locations
• Greta Gerwig: Women Making Art: Go behind the camera with Writer/Director Greta Gerwig, discover her process and how she applied her own style to the story
• Hair & Make-Up Test Sequence: A lovely showcase featuring the outstanding costumes, hair and make-up crafted for the film
• Little Women Behind the Scenes: Take a quick look behind the scenes on the set of LITTLE WOMEN
• Orchard House, Home of Louisa May Alcott: Find out more about Louisa May Alcott and visit the real-life Orchard House in Concord, MA

Final Score:
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As someone who loved the 1994 film of the same name, I was a little worried about Greta Gerwig’s re imagining of the iconic piece of literature. Sure it garnered much praise at the Academy Awards but the use of Emma Watson (someone who I’ve never been wildly enamored with) had me hesitating. Luckily it is an excellent piece of storytelling and Gerwig surpasses even the great sophomore directing job she had with Ladybird (also starring Saoirse Ronan) and puts itself JUST under the 1994 film (in my humble opinion. Sadly we don’t see a 4K UHD release for the film by Sony, even though it made a goodly amount of money ($200 million on a meager $40 million budget), but the Blu-ray is still great. Wonderful audio and sound, plus decent enough extras. Fans of classic literature should definitely check it out.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Saorise Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, Eliza Scanlen
Directed by: Greta Gerwig
Written by: Greta Gerwig, Louisa May Alcott (Novel)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Italian DTS-HD MA 5.1, Czech, French, Hungarian, Polish, Spanish, Turkish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese
Studio: Sony
Rated: PG
Runtime: 135 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: April 7th, 2020

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will get this one.

 

[bkeeler10]

I'm kind of interested in this one, but my wife is really interested haha. We will be watching it.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I'm kind of interested in this one, but my wife is really interested haha. We will be watching it.

Smart man.

I think I'm in the SAME exact boat. Of course, will quickly cleanse the palate with a quick viewing of Die Hard ;-)