Greta Gerwig's 'Little Women' Explores All Facets of Womanhood!

Throughout the past 107 years, Louisa May Alcott’s iconic 1868 novel Little Women has been adapted for the stage, screen, and television no less than 20 times. For the big screen alone, 7 adaptations have been produced, starting all the way back in 1917. Movie versions of the story have traditionally been a valid excuse for gathering all the most exciting young female actors of their day onto one set, from Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor to Winona Ryder and Claire Danes.

It’s been 25 years since the last major adaptation of the tale of 4 sisters growing up with their mother in Civil War-era Massachusetts, and this time, it’s not just the cast creating buzz, but the director as well.

The 8th film adaptation of Little Women has fallen into the very capable hands of one Greta Gerwig. Coming off her phenomenally successful indie flick Lady Bird – which earned her Oscar nominations for both Best Director and Best Original Screenplay – she now turns her unique perspective on the female experience to one of the most celebrated novels about that very thing, and we honestly can’t think of anyone better for the job!

Given this story has been adapted sooooo many times, what could Gerwig possibly bring to the table that hasn’t already been seen and done? Well… perhaps nothing more than a reminder that women are a complicated species that shouldn’t be relegated to a single role or box. Alcott’s novel revolves mainly around second-eldest sister Jo, who shirks the gender expectations of the time by acting tomboyish and pursuing a career as a writer, and we as the audience have always been expected to root for her and her revolutionary ways. That hasn’t changed, of course, but what of her other sisters, like the more romantic-minded Meg? Just because she is comfortable conforming to traditional gender roles doesn’t make her desires any less valid than Jo’s. That’s what Feminism is all about, right? The freedom of women to choose for themselves what they want to be. If this trailer is any indication, that is exactly the central theme that Gerwig seems to be highlighting, and I for one am all for it!

Helping Greta realize this vision is, as always, some of the most buzzworthy actresses today, including Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) as Jo, Emma Watson (Harry Potter) as Meg, Florence Pugh (Midsommar) as Amy, and Eliza Scanlen ("Sharp Objects") as Beth, not to mention Oscar darlings Laura Dern and Meryl Streep as the girls’ mother and great-aunt, respectively. Timothée Chalamet rounds out the cast as Jo’s love interest, Laurie.

Greta Gerwig’s contemporary spin on a classic tale hits theatres on Christmas Day!