Looking back at Little Women

I'm not ashamed to say that Little Women is one of my all-time favorite movies -- specifically the 1994 version starring Winona Ryder and a host of talented actors. Louisa May Alcott's novel has had a long history of adaptation for the screen (Shannon even remembers watching a cartoon version as a girl). Playing Jo March, Ryder was following in the formidable footsteps of Katherine Hepburn (the 1933 version) and June Allyson (1949).



Having never seen those earlier films I can't compare her to them, but I love Ryder's work here. She has a wholesome, wide-eyed quality that subtly changes into something more complex as her character matures and faces the triumphs and tragedies of family, friendship and love. I think Ryder's performance in Little Women must have benefited from her work in Martin Scorsese's splendid adaptation of The Age of Innocence the previous year. She has a similar quality in both films. I find all the perfomances appealing and believable except for Samantha Mathis, playing the grown-up Amy, who seems stiff and out of place. More on her below

Every scene of Little Women is beautifully lit and the sets and costumes are picture postcard perfect. The film has an idealized glow, even the "hovel house" where the poor immigrant family lives looks picturesque. But hey, it's not meant to be a work of gritty realism! Another asset is the score by Thomas Newman. Yes, it's a bit cliched and sounds remarkably similar to his score for The Shawshank Redemption from the same year (he received Oscar nominations for both films losing to Hans Zimmer for The Lion King), but again, I think it works in this context.

It's hard to think of another American film that featured more A-list actors (or actors that went on to become A-list) than Little Women. In addition to Ryder there's Susan Sarandon (who's aged more gracefully than any American actress I can think of), Claire Danes, Kirsten Dunst, Gabriel Byrne, Christian Bale...even Eric Stoltz, who became an Indy-film darling, and whose performance as the staid tutor John Brooke was a follow-up to his turn as loopy drug dealer Lance in Pulp Fiction. 1994 was a big year for Stoltz! The only exception to the model of stardom was Trini Alvarado, who played oldest March sister Meg, but went on to only moderate success before dropping out of sight. According to Wikipedia, she now resides in New York with her actor husband. Samantha Mathis went on to act in some successful films and has had a long career in TV, including starring in an episode of Lost earlier this year. But she may be best known as the girlfriend of actor River Phoenix. She was with Phoenix the night he died of a drug overdose outside The Viper Room, the Hollywood club once owned by Johnny Depp.

I've watched Little Women too many times to count and never get tired of it. I pulled it down off the shelf a few nights ago and introduced it to Shannon. It's not usually thought of as a "Christmas movie", but several scenes take place at Christmas and I believe it makes a fine Christmas movie! Here's the first 10 minutes. It's worth watching for the opening credits montage which feels like a video Christmas card. Enjoy.