(In honor of the month of December, I’ve pulled out a series that was written for my book but didn’t make the cut.)
For me, this version, Little Women (1994), is the gold standard.
ONE
Credits, beautiful music, snow, and a Christmas wreath. Time of year and era are established visually. Jo narrates. As you may know, I’m not generally a fan of narration. It’s more of a “tell” than a “show”. Because this story is a novel, Jo’s narration feels like she’s just reading to us. It’s not the worst use of narration.
Marmee comes home, chilled, and the family gathers to read father’s letter. Throughout, the film is beautifully framed, like a portrait. The arranging of the five women is evocative. You’re watching a time gone by. Perhaps you’re remembering illustrations from books you read as a child. This family is loving and close.
Also, this family is missing its father. The women are surviving and thriving, despite hardship. Whatever guidance a father would provide, whatever comfort or strength, is not weighed.
TWO
Christmas morning and the sisters find a feast on the table. Sausage, oranges, real butter. Hannah says, “Fetch your Marmee.” She’s out helping the indigent Hummel family with all those babies and nothing to eat. Beth offers the bread, Jo says the butter should go with it, and the sisters, exchanging a bittersweet look, grab up the food and head out.
If you don’t know the story you may not recognize that the Hummels are definitely Trouble.
THREE
As the sisters process with the food, their neighbor and his newly arrived grandson are also leaving. Laurie in the carriage gets a good look at them and we get a good look at him. Definitely an emphasized shot. Of course, Laurie changes everything for them.
FOUR
Jo burning Meg’s hair and hiding her own burnt dress at the Christmas dance. Formally meeting Laurie. John Brooke, Aunt March, and Amy’s limes. Laurie added to their acting troupe in the attic. Amy burning Jo’s book, falling through the ice, and reconciling. Meg being dressed at Sally Moffat’s coming out party.
The telegram. Marmee packing up. “Look in, will you, on the Hummels.” Beth on the visit, where the Hummels speak German to her wanting her mother because the baby is sick. Beth, overwhelmed, holding the baby while it screams. Scarlet fever.
Sending for Marmee. Her arrival saving Beth.
You can see that a lot goes on in this Four. Much story, much character information. The sisters are individuals, yet we also get the wonderful family dynamic. Fighting, teasing, compassion. The acting is excellent. When Marmee comes home it’s always moving.
The Four is the section where Beth is well. She survives!
SWITCH
The illness, though, has weakened her. The healthy Beth is gone. Fall slides into winter, and Jo’s narration indicates that a shadow has fallen on Beth.
FIVE
And so here we have the section when Beth is no longer well.
She comes downstairs for Christmas. Four years go by and she reclines on a blanketed chair during Meg’s wedding reception.
Amy is now portrayed by a different, older actress.
Laurie proposes to Jo and is rejected. Amy is off to Europe with Aunt March.
Distraught, Jo worries that she’ll never fit in. Marmee sends her to New York.
A letter to Beth becomes Jo’s narration as she showcases life in the city. Professor Bhaer is introduced. Their romance, formed over opera, coffee, and the writing of thrillers, is very sweet.
Amy’s story in France, and the reintroduction of a changed Laurie, crosscuts in.
And then Beth is sick again — dying — and Jo rushes home.
The scene at Beth’s bedside is perfect. Everyone is so good, and the writing is so moving. When wind bangs the window sash, Jo turns to close it. Push in for a long beat on Jo looking out at the storm, and when she turns back to the room, Beth has passed.
SIX
Hannah crushes flower petals and strews them over the closed piano lid, the stripped-clean bed, and a grouping of dolls, left behind. I dare you not to cry.
I love this scene so much. It’s so beautifully constructed. However . . . it doesn’t mirror the Three! What a disappointment for me! My favorite rendition has let me down. Look as I might, this is what the film delivered as the beats. (Couldn’t Beth have cherished a doll for a moment back at the Three? For that matter, Laurie should’ve been the Two! Oh, the heartbreak and the drive to rework this lovely movie.)
SEVEN
Then, just when I’ve reached such disappointment, the film delivers a marvelous cascading Seven. Oh, so thrilling!
Jo, running in mourning through the woods, arrives at the rail where Laurie proposed. All we see is thinking and crying, but Jo has decided something.
Next scene, Laurie at work in England receives a letter from Jo. Her voiceover reads the start of the letter telling him Amy can’t come home because Aunt March is too sick. Laurie tosses down the letter and flies out the door.
Jo’s decision impels Laurie’s decision to go to Amy. The voiceover continues to an empty room, asking Teddy to please come home. He never hears that part.
Laurie meets with Amy in France and kisses her. They are together, decisions implied.
Heading to the attic with storage materials, Jo comes upon Beth’s trunk full of memorabilia from their childhood. In the background we see her writing desk covered with a dust cloth. Weeping, Jo starts thinking.
She writes while the camera pans the attic and time passes. Her book is done. As she ties off the manuscript, she thinks. We can guess that she’s deciding to send the book to Bhaer.
That’s a lot of deciding! And all of it is shown, especially the character moments, and none of it is told. Just lovely.
EIGHT
All of our storylines resolve. Meg gives birth to twins. Laurie brings Amy home and introduces her as his wife. Jo, surprised, isn’t hurt by it. Aunt March wills her house to Jo, who contemplates a school.
And Jo’s book arrives, ready for final printing. Professor Bhaer brought it. She chases after him, they work out their misunderstandings, and they all live happily ever after.
NINE
The music immediately reintroduces the lively and cheerful brass section as we move to credits. It’s just like the opening, an auditory bookend.
CRITICAL NOTES
Jo has this wonderful attitude that nothing should change. The sisters should stay as they are, never falling in love, marrying, and leaving. Little does she know that the ultimate leaving, death, lies ahead. These are pains all of us face in real life. Watching a character, especially a bold and unconventional one like Jo, conquer these events is soothing. Not everyone can relate to three sisters and a father serving in war during an earlier century. Our feelings are set in a location that gives everything a twist, giving us a fresh perspective.