Alexandre Desplat is one of those prolific composers who really seems to understand how and why a soundtrack should enhance a film. Can't count the times when I've wondered who composed the music and stayed to see his name appear in the credits. There doesn't seem to be a style he can't write in well, so I'm not surprised to see you praise his work for Little Women.
"I’m a hard-headed old crank and I had several nice cries throughout." Sorry Roy but isn't that an oxymoron? And seeing you can't be anything but a cranky crustacean given your frequent immersions in the wingnut vitriol pits, this blubbering must be medical. Are your bowels getting that necessary, regular little blast of apple cider vinegar?
I better go see this anguished tome, strictly in the cause of medical science of course.
I don’t think Little Women, despite many attempts, is great movie material. But this Little Women is tremendous. Gerwig knows how to make a movie, and I’m excited for her future efforts. Pity she did not get an Oscar nomination for LW.
I've never read the book, nor seen any previous film version so I had nothing to compare. Really enjoyed it, and I think one of the reasons is that the "modern touches" didn't make too much of themselves. The other was the really beautiful look of the whole thing (our showing didn't seem dark/dim to my eyes), especially the costume design. Thanks for making me think about the music too!
I mostly liked it, but I have to say, I thought the metafictional elements at the end were an unbelievably terrible idea. I know they were meant to address the controversy when the book was contemporary about whether whatsername should marry whatsisname or not, but...I mean, it just left me thinking, so what, is this just a joke? Am I supposed to take this seriously? And by extension, am I meant to take ANY of this seriously? It seemed like a huge misstep, but I seem to be the only one bothered by it, so maybe it's just me.
All right, I'll go see this. Little Women has been part of my life since I was a child younger than Amy, then advancing through Beth, the great Jo, and motherly Meg. Several years ago it occurred to me that I was at least as old as or older than Marmee. And, just today, I realized that I am heading towards Aunt March! Oh well, I still wish--even though it would spoil the emotional arc of the story--that they would make or publish a Little Women where Beth does not die.
I loved this movie so much. (I have quibbles about the metafictional stuff, and I'm not 100% sold on rejiggering the narrative nonlinearly - that felt like Gerwig didn't trust me to remember setups by the time we got to payoffs - but you make me think that's directing our eyes in the right direction for her point rather than not trusting our capability to remember and understand.) I loved how intensely alive and real this world seems - I've seen adaptations of this material that felt more like a series of tableaux from the book than things that were happening to real people that we could care about. I even love how Jo and Marmee have similar cheekbones.) It happens - surprisingly for a Californian - that I've been to Concord a dozen times in different seasons over 20 years or so, and it was joyful for me to see those recognizable exteriors, that New England foliage. It made me really happy.
Alexandre Desplat is one of those prolific composers who really seems to understand how and why a soundtrack should enhance a film. Can't count the times when I've wondered who composed the music and stayed to see his name appear in the credits. There doesn't seem to be a style he can't write in well, so I'm not surprised to see you praise his work for Little Women.
"I’m a hard-headed old crank and I had several nice cries throughout." Sorry Roy but isn't that an oxymoron? And seeing you can't be anything but a cranky crustacean given your frequent immersions in the wingnut vitriol pits, this blubbering must be medical. Are your bowels getting that necessary, regular little blast of apple cider vinegar?
I better go see this anguished tome, strictly in the cause of medical science of course.
I'll be back with a diagnosis.
Thank you for explicating so insightfully why I loved the film.
I don’t think Little Women, despite many attempts, is great movie material. But this Little Women is tremendous. Gerwig knows how to make a movie, and I’m excited for her future efforts. Pity she did not get an Oscar nomination for LW.
I've never read the book, nor seen any previous film version so I had nothing to compare. Really enjoyed it, and I think one of the reasons is that the "modern touches" didn't make too much of themselves. The other was the really beautiful look of the whole thing (our showing didn't seem dark/dim to my eyes), especially the costume design. Thanks for making me think about the music too!
I mostly liked it, but I have to say, I thought the metafictional elements at the end were an unbelievably terrible idea. I know they were meant to address the controversy when the book was contemporary about whether whatsername should marry whatsisname or not, but...I mean, it just left me thinking, so what, is this just a joke? Am I supposed to take this seriously? And by extension, am I meant to take ANY of this seriously? It seemed like a huge misstep, but I seem to be the only one bothered by it, so maybe it's just me.
All right, I'll go see this. Little Women has been part of my life since I was a child younger than Amy, then advancing through Beth, the great Jo, and motherly Meg. Several years ago it occurred to me that I was at least as old as or older than Marmee. And, just today, I realized that I am heading towards Aunt March! Oh well, I still wish--even though it would spoil the emotional arc of the story--that they would make or publish a Little Women where Beth does not die.
I loved this movie so much. (I have quibbles about the metafictional stuff, and I'm not 100% sold on rejiggering the narrative nonlinearly - that felt like Gerwig didn't trust me to remember setups by the time we got to payoffs - but you make me think that's directing our eyes in the right direction for her point rather than not trusting our capability to remember and understand.) I loved how intensely alive and real this world seems - I've seen adaptations of this material that felt more like a series of tableaux from the book than things that were happening to real people that we could care about. I even love how Jo and Marmee have similar cheekbones.) It happens - surprisingly for a Californian - that I've been to Concord a dozen times in different seasons over 20 years or so, and it was joyful for me to see those recognizable exteriors, that New England foliage. It made me really happy.