“Little Women”– Movie Review

This week at The New York Times’ Times Talks series, there was an advance screening of the drama, “Little Women”, adapted and directed by Greta Gerwig. 

Synopsis

As four sisters reach maturity in the 19th Century, will they be able to live life on their own terms in adulthood or are they destined to a life circumstances will impose on them?

Story

As an aspiring young author, one tough lesson that Jo March (Saoirse Ronan) is forced to learn early on is that if you are going to write a story where a woman is the main character, then by the end of that story, your heroine must either get married or die – otherwise, your story may never get published.  In these times shortly after the end of The Civil War, women who desired a career of some kind were expected to toe the line rather than do as they pleased. But Jo is not pursuing this line of work as a mere lark: she is doing it in part because she is trying to make money to help out her family, but also because she’s got the talent and a passion to write.

Jo has three sisters at home – Meg (Emma Watson), Amy (Florence Pugh) and Beth (Eliza Scanlen).  They are about as tightly-knit as sisters can possibly be. Marmee (Laura Dern) is their mother; she cares for the family while their father (Bob Odenkirk) serves as a chaplain in the waning days of the war.  Over time, the four sisters develop their own interests (some of them of the romantic variety) as well as their own personalities and preferences in life. Beth is a gifted pianist, Amy considers a career as an artist and as for Meg, she wouldn’t mind having a more traditional life of settling down with a husband and raising children. 

Fate has a way of interfering with plans and so it does with these young women:  Jo encounters occasional discouragement when her writing isn’t always appreciated; Meg gets married, but isn’t able to live the life she hoped because her husband is of limited financial means; although Amy is able to go to Paris to study painting, her affection for Laurie (Timothée Chalamet) remains unrequited because he has feelings for Jo.  The most serious problem of all belongs to Beth: she is diagnosed with scarlet fever after coming into contact with infected children. With Beth bedridden, Jo learns that she must put her writing ambitions on hold; she is summoned by Marmee to leave New York and return to the family home in Concord, Massachusetts where she will help to care for her sister.  Can Jo nurse Beth back to health and return to her writing career?        

Review

If you go onto either IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes and try to do a search for a movie adaptation of “Little Women”, you will find no less than seven versions.  The first one was made in 1933 and starred Katherine Hepburn. What makes Gerwig’s version different from the others is the fact that she doesn’t completely follow the traditional narrative of the novel from which it has been adapted.  Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing depends on how much of a purist you are; if you are expecting to see a movie that’s identical to the book, then it’s possible that you may be disappointed. 

For those that are familiar with the story and are open-minded enough to entertain the idea of seeing a different take, then the 2019 version of “Little Women” might prove to be a rather refreshing change of pace.  Here, Gerwig decided to do a couple of things that some may find unexpected: playing with time and comparing the character of Jo her creator. Regarding the issue with time, there are a number of flashbacks and flash-forwards which some may find disconcerting as far as following the main narrative is concerned (add to that all of the characters and their individual story lines and it can really seem convoluted).  The other aspect, overlapping Jo with Louisa May Alcott, actually shows another dimension – for the film, the character and the author.      

Following the screening, there was an interview with the writer/director as well as several of the cast members.  Gerwig said that she had read the book many times as a child, then, after she turned 30, read it once again. That last time, she saw the story very differently from the way she had experienced it in her childhood.  In preparing for the film, Gerwig did a tremendous amount of research on Louisa May Alcott, the author of the novel on which it is based. She discovered that Alcott’s life was very similar to that of Jo in the book in the sense that she never married and never had children.  

“The Aeronauts”– Movie Review

This week, I attended an advance screening of the new Amazon motion picture, “The Aeronauts”, starring Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne. 

Synopsis

When a meteorologist hires a hot-air balloon pilot to fly them both for scientific experiments, will they survive the hazards encountered in their adventure?

Story

Meteorologist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) is something of a visionary:  in the year 1862, he believes if his fellow scientists can accurately and reliably provide weather forecasts, humanity as a whole will benefit because it will save money and potentially save lives.  Despite his good intentions, his colleagues scoff at Glaisher’s plan to fly as high as humanly (and technically) possible to take wind and temperature measurements, document cloud variations and record precipitation levels.  Glaisher encounters enormous obstacles when it comes to obtaining funding for his project. 

While at a party, Glaisher meets Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones), a daring balloon pilot who is well-known for her performances and death-defying acts.  He entreats her to take him flying for his scientific experiments for the weather, but she is reluctant for a number of reasons – not the least of which being a traumatic air balloon accident a couple of years earlier which resulted in her husband’s death.  Wren remains so traumatized by this incident that she has refrained from flying since then – in no small part due to the fact that she still feels partly responsible. But Glaisher is able to convince Wren to be his pilot by appealing to her sense of adventure:  his experiment will require the two of them to fly higher than anyone has ever before flown in such an aircraft.

When Glaisher and Wren finally set off on their voyage, it is a huge public spectacle – almost a form of performance art.  Shortly after taking off, their trip nearly ends before it can begin because they head into some storm clouds which causes great turbulence.  Once Wren is able to steady the balloon, they proceed, moving ever higher into the air. By the time they have reached 23,000 feet above the earth, the two mark the fact that Wren has now flown higher than any before her.  But as Glaisher insists that Wren soar so he can conduct further experiments, the temperature drops; the balloon and its passengers freeze once they attain a height of 36,000 feet. With  Glaisher rendered unconscious from hypoxia, can Wren overcome the elements to rescue them both? 

Review

When Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne take off into the wild blue yonder early on in “The Aeronauts”, you may be forgiven if the first thing you think is, “Will they join The Mile High Club”?  (Not addressing that one – trying to keep this as spoiler-free as possible) That aside, the film takes a few stabs at being something of a thrill ride – and not unsuccessfully – but it is ultimately a bit dull.  Fortunately, it’s relatively short (a little over an hour and a half) so the movie at least has that going for it. If you are a fan of one or both of its stars, then “Aeronauts” is a must-see; otherwise, it’s a must-skip.

As one might expect, most of the story takes place in the hot-air balloon.  From the standpoint of screenplay structure, the risk here is that the resulting film would be static, yielding the look and feel of being like a stage play more than a movie.  The way the filmmakers worked around this potential obstacle is by doing two things: flashbacks and acrobatics. Flashbacks are used to tell the backstory of the characters – both as individuals as well as how they met and became a team.  Typically, flashbacks are criticized because they can tend to impede the forward momentum; while that isn’t untrue, it does break up the monotony of watching these two riding in the gondola. 

With respect to the acrobatics, there are scenes where Jones’ character is forced into perform some rather heroic stunts in order to save both of them or to get the balloon to rise or change direction.  These moments provide rare times of suspense when an audience’s emotional investment can heighten, but there’s only so much that the filmmakers can do to make an extended ride in a hot-air balloon even remotely interesting or entertaining.  For those who want a film with a lead female character as the action hero, this might prove to be satisfying experience – but not much to offer after that.