1178. Little Women

Little Women
2019
Directed by Greta Gerwig

I have a love/hate relationship with this story. I really care about the characters, but I have a hard time forgiving them for the choices they make. The entire story breaks my heart and I don't want to revisit the tale as often as Hollywood wants to. Once again, another adaptation of the novel devastated me, which I guess means I liked it?

Jo March wants to be a writer, but the years after the Civil War didn't exactly encourage female artistry. Her older sister Meg dreams of having a family, and her younger sister Amy wants to be a painter in Paris. And her other sister, Beth, is content to just be "desperately good" and play the piano. They befriend their neighbor Laurie, who falls for Jo.

This is such a familiar story, at least to me, so I really liked that this movie laid out the plot in a rather unconventional way, i.e. non chronologically. It seemed to challenge the notion that women were always able to maintain a demure, sometimes reluctantly demure, presence in the company of men. 

Some might feel that the feminism aspects were forced in, but I, shockingly, admired the addition. It felt truer to Louisa May Alcott's real life, truer, at least, than the cloying sentimentalism found in the novel (which was probably only added to please publishers). 

Still, I will never get over the Jo and Laurie romance. 

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Emma Watson took over the role of Meg March from Emma Stone.

Florence Pugh finished filming Midsommar a few days before she started filming this movie.

1057. Lady Bird

Lady Bird
2017
Directed by Greta Gerwig

There is an extreme shortage of coming of age stories about women. I think the implication that in order for one to transform from a boy to a man, one needs to perform some seminal act of bravery or have some profound revelation. In order for a girl to become a woman, she needs a prom date and a boyfriend to be mean to her. Anyway, I think this film seeks to rectify the lack of representation, but takes some noticeable missteps along the way.

Lady Bird is a senior at a Catholic high school in Sacramento. She hopes to attend college on the East Coast, but until then must contend with her world-weary mother. She joins the theater program with her best friend Julie and soon develops feelings for one of her costars. Basically, she is only slightly less angsty than Holden Caulfield.

I enjoyed this movie, though I can't honestly say that I found it relatable, probably due to the fact that I did not look like Saoirse Ronan in high school.  Ronan was definitely the best part of this film; she managed to stay likable in a deeply flawed way. I wish the director would have sidestepped some notable cliches, but I still enjoyed the rhythm of this movie. I would still say Boyhood is the superior film, but this definitely beats Moonlight.

I'm trying to think of other coming of age films about women and I'm only coming up Gigi and Clueless. Please tell me I am suffering from severe memory loss.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Gerwig's debut as a solo director.

The title character's name refers to the nursery rhyme, "ladybird, ladybird, fly away home, your house is on fire and your children all gone." Why are nursery rhymes so fucking creepy?