Comparing Every Version of Little Women

In this video, I take a look at the American major motion picture adaptations of Little Women to understand how they have changed over time (this is me acknowledging that I'm not *actually* comparing every version of Little Women). How does a 150 year old text remain relevant? And how have different filmmakers found new ways to tell this story?

THANK YOU to my Patrons!

Music from Epidemic Sound

This video used a number of great references. Among them:

A Feminist Romance: Adapting Little Women to the Screen by Karen Hollinger and Teresa Winterhalter (this is available on JSTOR)

[Roman-ezhq]

I think the strongest line in the movie was Jo’s line to Marmie in the attic. She doesn’t want to be a wife, but she desires companionship. I can’t believe how incredibly complex that one snippet of dialogue is.

[amelioriart]

I read Little Women when I was 13 and it changed my life. When Jo refused Laurie's marriage proposal, it was the first time ever that I read a work of fiction that told me that you can say "No", esp to the handsome rich guy. It was amazing. I will be forever grateful for it.

[tmoon]

"These Little Women...just how little are they?!" - Joey, 'Friends'

[nextstop-everywhere]

“For this Joe, loneliness is not the lack of a romantic partner. Loneliness is the cold tones of an empty attic haunted by the memory of one filled with golden light and laughter of best friends and sisters.”
Oh my god. Oh my god I’m not ok. I thought I could watch a deconstruction of Little Women without crying but I was wrong. This story feels so personal to me and you just summed up why so succinctly.

[arianadaiyan]

the last adaption felt like watching a painting... just gorgeous. the scene where laurie confesses his love for jo literally had me clutching my chest in the theater.

[kie]

I love the way the 2019 version depicted Amy. Instead of a villain, she was a slightly self centered realist. She knew how everything worked and made sure to use that to get what she wanted. She’s the only one that gets everything : love, money, kid, the opportunity to do what she loves to do.

And though a lot of people disagree, I liked Amy with Laurie. Jo didn’t love him, while Amy had a crush on him since she was a teenager. Laurie tried, Jo rejected him and he was allowed to move on.

[lydiamiller]

Fun fact: the March house in the 2019 movie was Louisa May Alcott's actual house.

[iaraazultesolin]

Gerwig’s film feels like watching people live, she does this thing in her films. It doesn’t feel force nor fake, it feals like memories of real people the way the book speaks, at least to me.

[ememem]

Still cannot get over how the 2019 cast was so much like a group of sisters.

[justinkoch]

I want the unreasonable length version of this please.

[rachelpeat]

Something I loved about the 2019 version was how they managed Amy. She was my favourite character in the whole movie - all other adaptations (in my opinion) show her as an annoying child and then a money hungry adult who looks down on Jo. In this movie, by showing her as an adult and then as a child, flushes out her character and shows her as a real character instead of a prop in the background, only there to show the audience how Jo is expected to act. Amy was often pushed down to hold Jo up, and seeing all the women - but especially Amy - as whole people in this new movie has me falling in love with a new side of an already beautiful story.
P.S I loved your video it was amazing!

[latrolettteeeeeee]

The Awkward moment when you realize that Kirsten Dunst was pretty much the only child who played Amy.

[Emgee]

There's a coziness to the 1994 version that I really, really love and I thought Winona Ryder and Claire Danes's performances where excellent. It's my favorite adaptation and I love watching it during the Christmas holidays.

[SuperMe]

I feel like the 2019 version got the relationships between sisters better, especially the physically violent side. I came out of that with my sister really seeing our own relationship in them.

[LifeIsABeach]

Winona Ryder brought something special to the character of Joe for me and will always be my favourite. Even in a cultural context Winona rarely played the pretty girl on screen, she was more the social misfit, the 'strange and unusual'. So her casting and performance flowed naturally. She and Christian Bale had the best chemistry as well, he was not so pained as Timothee was - more full of laughter than lingering looks.

[smelly]

I’ve only seen the 2019 version but I liked the flashback structure since it really highlights Joe’s nostalgia and present-day loneliness, and the way she feels like she is losing that childhood happiness from her memories.

[clairerich]

To me it seemed like in the 2019 version, Jo and Laurie’s relationship was more obviously platonic. While it was very playful in the 1994 version, I still felt a lot more love and affection between the characters. Maybe that’s just me though.

[ChamberK]

The 1994 adaptation will always be my favorite simply because of Beth's death scene. I'm not exactly sure why but it's the only one out of all of them that really got to me. I sobbed the first time I saw it and I still sob everytime I watch it. Claire Danes is the best Beth

[MichelleRedSoul]

I loved that Greta breathed new life into Amy's character. Florence Pugh was so good!

[jhartley]

Back in '94 I did a 'good deed' and took my nieces to see "Little Women." I was shocked that i was drawn into the story of the March sisters. It's a surprise i've never forgotten.
Today i bribed my granddaughters [age 16/18] with 'Skywalker' tix to attend with me. Near the end, both whispered to me thru tears that they were finally gonna read the novel i'd gifted them years ago.
So I get home and wonder about the differences in the four versions; and i find this video essay! Insightful, humorous, great writing, narration and editing. What gift for us!
Many thanks and have wonderful holiday...