With how incredible the 1933 movie adaption of Little Women is it would have been hard for me to believe that any film based on the book could come anywhere near it. Then this incredible movie came along and completely blew me away. This is not only perhaps the best movie of the year but it can easily hold its own with any other great movie from this decade.
Everything about this movie is extremely well done. The cast is absolutely perfect. These young actresses capture the March sisters as well as any actresses ever could. They capture not only the more overt parts of the characters' personalities, but also the more subtle parts. There are many layers to these performances making the characters have the same incredible impact they did in the classic novel. They are powerfully moving performances during the more dramatic scenes, while still capturing the sense of fun and playfulness in the lighter scenes. This is also an incredible looking film. While most movies today simply take color for granted the makers of Little Women show a perfect understanding of all that can be done with color. The color doesn't only look lovely, it also enhances the mood and emotion of each scene. This is often done very subtly and never calls attention to itself, letting the March Sisters and their story be the main attraction (the way it should be). This is extremely enhanced by the masterful cinematography by Yorick Le Saux (who has worked on such great movies as Personal Shopper (2016), Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) and Julia (2008)). Alexandre Desplat's musical score is near perfect and adds a lot to this movie. Great Gerwig's (who also directed the movie) script tells us a story all us movie lovers know by heart in a way that feels fresh and new while still retaining everything we loved about the previous adaptions. One way she does this is by not telling the story in chronological order the way the other adaptions have done. This film flashes back and forth between different time periods in the sisters' lives. This is done masterfully. Greta as both writer and director knows perfectly how to juxtapose these scenes with each other so they feel just as natural if not more so than they would in a more traditional manner. The result of all this put together is simply moviemaking at its best.
Even though this is only the second movie Greta Gerwig directed, I have no problem saying that she is now one of my favorite directors. If there is one must see movie this year (though there are in my mind more than one) it is definitely Little Women. Whatever you do don't miss this incredible film.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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