<em>Little Women </em>Is a Sparklingly Clever New Take on a Classic
Greta Gerwig’s film remixes the timeline of the novel, illuminating the strengths of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved characters.
“I [have] had lots of troubles; so I write jolly tales,” Louisa May Alcott once quipped of her career. This blithe, self-effacing remark, tinged with melancholy, is the opening epigraph for Greta Gerwig’s new adaptation of Alcott’s mightiest novel, —and it’s a perfect summation of the sharp but wistful tone that defined Alcott’s work. Gerwig captures that mood with this film, a sparklingly clever new take that remixes the book’s timeline while maintaining its perfect balance of joy and sadness., but that doesn’t mean things can’t also be jolly.
