Director: Greta Gerwig
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Timothée Chalamet, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep
Released By: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Certificate: PG
Duration: 135 mins
Release Date: 25th May 2020

Greta Gerwig's debut directorial effort, Ladybird was a beautifully crafted film and so it’s no surprise that she has been given the job to direct this classic piece of literature by Louisa May Alcott. There are elements of comedy, drama and autobiography, and Gerwig handles everything with style and ease to create a warm and loving film about sisterhood.

Little Women draws on the classic novel. The cast is superbly well chosen including Saoirse Ronan as Jo, Emma Watson as Meg, Florence Pugh as Amy, and Eliza Scanlen as Beth. Laura Dern and Bob Odenkirk are also well cast as the mother and father. All with support from the ever-dependable and talented Meryl Streep.

As does the novel, the film splits through flashbacks between the childhood and adult lives of the sisters and this is done effortlessly, using the same actors rather than using a younger and older actor for each part. I think this works really well and adds to the continuity. The colours, cinematography and costumes all help to delineate between the present day and flashbacks and it’s beautifully done, with the custom design rightfully winning an Oscar. Perhaps you might feel that Gerwig should have also taken home the statuette for Best Film.

Blu-ray disc special features include:

• A New Generation of Little Women: interviews with the main cast and Greta Gerwig exploring the key themes and the characters.
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• Making a Modern Classic: cinematography, production design, costumes.
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• Greta Gerwig: Women Making Art: discussions about the writer-director and how she stamped her own mark on the film.



• Little Women: Behind the Scenes clips from the set of the film with voice-over contribution from the main cast and crew sharing their experiences of the film.

Author : Kevin Stanley