Little Women

The "Little Women / Good Wives / Little Men / Jo’s Boys" tetralogy was written by Louisa May Alcott between 1868 and 1886. These women's sagas deal with the transformation of girls into women, women into wives, mothers, and grandmothers in a whole range of emotions and small stories. Alcott is particularly concerned with the girls' relationships with their mothers and the dynamics of sisterly love. The subject matter is important and understandable, so what is so disappointing about this adaptation? First of all, the classic aspects include focusing only on the first book and the incredibly quick ending. As if the broad scope and series format of the narrative should be a minus and not a plus. The acting is weak, with Angela Lansbury being the only standout name. Appropriately capturing the headstrong Jo is a frequent challenge, and even the likes of Katherine Hepburn once failed, but later Wynona Rider became the ideal. We often expect a careful and faithful adaptation from the BBC, but unfortunately, it was simply not a good idea to make Little Women with just three episodes and cheap sets. These books are the subject of a saga. What's important are the realities of the Civil War, and the difference between the city and the countryside, and there's none of that here. Even Amy's trip to Europe seemed to take place in the living room, just as Beth's trip to the sea remained untapped. Yet there are already many more adaptations in the pipeline, so I'll be hoping for a quality feature film now that the series has disappointed. (05/05/2019)