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- to accommodate the various comparisons already being made by fans of the two versions online,

this thread will now include discussion about both 1994 and 2019 movie adaptations of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women

• Mod Note: Constructive criticism is completely acceptable if you have negative views towards either adaptation, but please respect the views of others. •


First look at Greta Gerwig's Little Women

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Hmmmm can we talk about how unimpressed I am with the small clip of Jo's reaction to Laurie's love confession as played with weird anger by Saoirse Ronan? Cause it only makes Winona's portrayal stronger in my eyes. At least her version of Jo had regret/hesitation when rejecting him

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Has anyone seen the new Little Women yet?

I'm watching The Graham Norton show and Florence Pugh (Amy in this adaptation) is saying it has broken records at the box office $$$

Honestly, I don't care to see it. When something gets hyped to the point where they act like it's the BEST VERSION TO EVERRRR EXIST, it really puts me off.

Also, I'm laughing because Florence is basically on this show right now to defend Amy "because everyone hates her"

Lethally Floral

I don't think people are saying this is the best version ever but rather that the angle the director takes justifies making another version of this classic story.

And I don't think it has broken records but it is beating expectations as far as box office goes.

Crystal Clear

I'm happy for Greta Gerwig that it's an all-round success

Just what I've heard and seen of it, it's not gonna be ranking as my favorite.

I know they've done things to Amy and Jo's characters to sort of clarify the ultimate romantic choice being Laurie for Amy, but eh that's not my thing

I'll never stop seeing Amy as Laurie's second choice no matter how much they try to develop her character. I honestly believe she was his ticket to staying part of that family and in some way, affect Jo for the rest of her life and remind her what she could have had.

But I guess that's the fun of all these adaptations, they can show/suggest different things with the material

Crystal Clear

Has anyone seen Gerwig's version yet? If so, what did you think of Louis Garrel as the Professor? Did he have chemistry with Saoirse?

Lethally Floral

It'll be interesting what you think of it. I don't know if I'd say they had chemistry--I'm not the best person to judge since my take away was that it might not have "really" happened.

Warning: Spoilers for the movie, specifically themes.

The movie begins with Jo speaking to a publisher who tells her that if there is a woman of marriageable age in anything she writes, the woman better be dead or married by the end if she wants it published.

She goes back to her boarding house and that's where we first see her interact with Professor.

The story is told by jumping back and forth between "today" and "the past." Once the past story merges with the present timeline, the Professor comes to visit her on his way out West. It gets interesting here because it turns into a movie with a very romcom kind of feel. The family tells Jo that it's clear they're meant for one another and she shouldn't let him go. She chases after him....in the rain and reunites with him. They kiss....in. the. rain.

We then see her novel being published. Your mileage may vary but the ending between the Professor and Jo isn't really built up, their scenes feel different than the rest of the movie and it kind of feels tacked on. I 100% think it's intentional. I think Greta is hinting that the ending with the Professor is the ending Jo gave her character in the book about family life in order to meet the "women must be dead or married" requirement to be published. It's the ending of her book but not potentially not her life.

So it was hard for me to evaluate chemistry through that lens.

Crystal Clear

Don't worry about spoilers the movie's been out since last year, so we'll allow for any details people want to share about it to be posted.

And thank you for that analysis I won't be able to watch the movie for a while, so it's nice to see other people's thoughts on it. I recently re-watched the 1994 version.

Oh wow

Well, yeah, that makes sense. It felt similarly forced in the version I saw, too. In the 1994 one, Jo was adamant to Laurie that she didn't want to "go be a wife" to anyone, and their scenes in that version often implied a sense of her getting close to him specifically because he was intrigued by her writing and wasn't used to women having that sort of confidence / independence.

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I love how even in the year 2023 and with the woke Gerwig adaptation where Amy got a bigger role, fans are STILL heavily pro-Jo and Laurie as the soulmates couple and addressing the weirdness of Laurie marrying Amy on the rebound from her sister -