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Why 'Little Women' Matters. Plus: Greta Gerwig! | The Big Picture

December 23, 2019/ 105 min/ Amanda Dobbins · Sean Fennessy

Amanda Dobbins takes the wheel to make the case for Greta Gerwig's 'Little Women,' walking Sean Fennessy (a total newcomer to the material) through the book's history and its many screen adaptations before they dig into the 2019 version scene by scene. Then Sean sits down with Gerwig herself to talk money, authorship, and the classic films she and DP Yorick Le Saux studied to build it.

23 films across 2 segments.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

Why 'Little Women' MattersAmanda Dobbins and Sean Fennessy

Little Women 2019

Greta Gerwig's adaptation, starring Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, Bob Odenkirk, and Louis Garrel. Sean had never read the book or seen a prior version; Amanda has read it repeatedly and considers it one of her most anticipated films of the year. They cover Gerwig's split-timeline structure (young sisters intercut with the same actors ten years later), the framing device of Jo selling her story to Tracy Letts' publisher, the movie's preoccupation with money and female economic agency, and the performances: Ronan's Jo, Florence Pugh's much-rehabilitated Amy, Timothée Chalamet's Laurie, Eliza Scanlen's Beth, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, and Meryl Streep. They debate the book-accurate ending (Jo marrying Professor Bhaer) and its awards chances after Golden Globes and SAG snubs.

Little Women (1933) 1933

George Cukor's version, with Katharine Hepburn as Jo, a performance Amanda calls definitive to Hepburn's screen identity.

Little Women (1949) 1949

Mervyn LeRoy's version, with Elizabeth Taylor as Amy and Janet Leigh as Meg.

Little Women (1994) 1994

Gillian Armstrong's version, produced by Amy Pascal (also a producer on the 2019 film), with Winona Ryder as Jo, Christian Bale as Laurie, Claire Danes as Beth, Kirsten Dunst and Samantha Mathis splitting young and old Amy, and Susan Sarandon as Marmee. Amanda's formative version growing up; on a rewatch she found the other performances stronger than Ryder's, and calls it more conventionally sentimental than the 2019 film. Grossed $95 million and got three Oscar nominations, and is credited with kicking off the mid-'90s wave of Jane Austen adaptations.

In conversation

Greta Gerwig on

Little Women 2019

Gerwig wrote the script before directing 'Lady Bird' and had wanted to direct it since telling Amy Pascal she 'had to write it and direct it.' She talks about Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own,' Louisa May Alcott's own poverty and writing-for-survival, the opening pitch-meeting scene lifted nearly verbatim from the book, and building the ensemble with costume designer Jacqueline Durran, production designer Jess Gonchor, and DP Yorick Le Saux over two weeks of rehearsal.

Greta Gerwig on

Lady Bird 2017

Gerwig's directorial debut; its commercial success (about $85 million) gave her the leverage to make 'Little Women' at a larger scale.

Greta Gerwig on

Beauty and the Beast 2017

Costume designer Jacqueline Durran's more heightened work, cited as a contrast to her understated period pieces.

Greta Gerwig on

Mr. Turner 2014

One of Durran's Mike Leigh collaborations, cited for its specific period costuming.

Greta Gerwig on

Another Year 2010

Another Durran/Mike Leigh film, cited as barely looking costumed at all.

Greta Gerwig on

A Bigger Splash 2015

A Luca Guadagnino film shot by DP Yorick Le Saux, part of why Gerwig wanted to work with him.

Greta Gerwig on

I Am Love 2010

Another Guadagnino/Le Saux collaboration Gerwig calls stunning.

Greta Gerwig on

Carlos 2010

Olivier Assayas's film, shot by Le Saux; Gerwig wanted the frenetic energy of this and the sensuousness of 'I Am Love' combined.

Greta Gerwig on

Two English Girls 1971

A Truffaut touchstone for camera movement that 'never really feels its heaviness'; its device of characters addressing the camera also appears in 'Little Women.'

Greta Gerwig on

Jules and Jim 1962

The other Truffaut reference point Gerwig mentions alongside 'Two English Girls.'

Greta Gerwig on

The Dead 1987

John Huston's film, a 19th-century family chamber piece Gerwig and Le Saux studied on a tip from Wes Anderson.

Greta Gerwig on

Heaven's Gate 1980

Studied for its waltz sequence, which Gerwig made the cast watch; she jokes her film didn't bankrupt a studio.

Greta Gerwig on

McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971

Referenced for its unglamorous, mottled period texture, including how the snow and ice look.

Greta Gerwig on

The Age of Innocence 1993

Scorsese's film, which Gerwig realized drew on many of the same references she and Le Saux used; she singles out its opening party sequence.

Greta Gerwig on

The King of Comedy 1982

A Scorsese flop-turned-favorite Gerwig and Noah Baumbach studied while making 'Mistress America.'

Greta Gerwig on

After Hours 1985

The other Scorsese title Gerwig and Baumbach looked at for 'Mistress America.'

Greta Gerwig on

Mistress America 2015

The Gerwig/Baumbach collaboration for which 'King of Comedy' and 'After Hours' were reference points.

Greta Gerwig on

Fanny and Alexander 1982

Gerwig's aspirational double-feature pairing for 'Little Women,' when Sean asks.

Greta Gerwig on

Joker 2019

The last great thing Gerwig had seen: a rainy-night 70mm screening in New York, where she also got to tell Todd Phillips how much she liked it.

Also mentioned raised along the way

Career references Atonement Brooklyn Hanna Midsommar Fighting with My Family Jurassic Park III Sense and Sensibility

In passing Reality Bites The Shape of Water Cats

Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads

TV Little Women (1978 miniseries)Little Women (2017 BBC miniseries)WatchmenMr. ShowBetter Call SaulHomelandSharp ObjectsTo Kill a Mockingbird (stage play)

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