A flippant tweet about how much I enjoyed the film Little Women prompted an immediate retweet from Funny Women: “Write a review.”
I could not presume to equal the numerous erudite reviews already written, but if you haven’t seen this yet then you must; sad in parts but not a tear-jerker, funny in parts but not a belly-laugh, violent in parts but only like any family argument and happy definitely almost everywhere.
This has to be one of the recent most ‘feel-good’ films around. Not to mention the excellent acting of the leading female actors (all of them), Louisa May Alcott certainly knew how to blaze the trail with her women. They were all strong independent characters with a sense of their own worth, their own will and their own desire for recognition whether quietly or publicly like Jo March. All of them inspirations.
Men, sorry, were not needed to supply a life or style of living; but they do work to supply that final happy ending (spoiler alert) even for Jo.
Perhaps this excellent rendition of Alcott’s novel with its ‘feel-good’ factor proved too overpowering to be included in the Bafta nominations announced this week. Despite the feminist subtexts already present in the original, it is with some surprise to note that Greta Gerwig is not included in the nominations. In fact the director category, not surprisingly, is all male. Once again justified criticism is aimed at the #BaftasSoWhite approach; probably should also read #BaftasSoMale.
Rant aside stand up for your feminine traits – the costumes are to die for! A cross between Little House on the Prairie and Gone with the Wind. Let’s all go and dress up and dream of happy endings. And men you can come too.
Little Women is out in cinemas nationwide now!
