Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Little Women (2019)

Options
2

Comments

  • Options
    #32
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,118 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    There is an interesting video on youtube discussing some of the many versions there have been.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJGZoecSmrA


  • Options
    #33
    johnny_ultimate
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 29,094 CMod ✭✭✭✭johnny_ultimate


    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »
    Jaysus, relax.

    Perfectly relaxed, cheers! Happy to report I still think both films are wonderful and Gerwig is a supremely talented filmmaker.


  • Options
    #34
    is_that_so
    Registered Users Posts: 32,136 ✭✭✭✭is_that_so


    Goodshape wrote: »
    Meryl's a couple of years past 25 though, last I checked.
    Sure she is but she's the standard for exceptional. I don't think Ronan is anywhere near that level but a good actress anyway.


  • Options
    #35
    is_that_so
    Registered Users Posts: 32,136 ✭✭✭✭is_that_so


    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »
    Jaysus, relax. Ladybird had some nicely observed moments but was very overpraised.
    I didn't take to it either but thought Metcalf, the mother, was the best thing in it.


  • Options
    #36
    MJohnston
    Registered Users Posts: 10,501 ✭✭✭✭MJohnston


    is_that_so wrote: »
    Sure she is but she's the standard for exceptional. I don't think Ronan is anywhere near that level but a good actress anyway.

    What’s the point in comparing the awards haul of them though, considering the difference in experience?


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #37
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    is_that_so wrote: »
    I didn't take to it either but thought Metcalf, the mother, was the best thing in it.

    Metcalf was excellent indeed.


  • Options
    #38
    is_that_so
    Registered Users Posts: 32,136 ✭✭✭✭is_that_so


    MJohnston wrote: »
    What’s the point in comparing the awards haul of them though, considering the difference in experience?
    I wasn't. I had to go looking for those stats. The Ronan ones are trotted out regularly and are really clickbait IMO. The Streep haul is not experience, it's superior talent. That's not to say that Ronan doesn't have quite a bit of talent but I do feel she is limited in a Keira Knightley way to what she can play really well. That may change but I'm not convinced she will ever be in the pantheon of truly greats but she will always be considered good.


  • Options
    #39
    Technocentral
    Registered Users Posts: 6,101 ✭✭✭Technocentral


    I hate upper class period dramas but this was very enjoyable, 8/10.


  • Options
    #40
    MJohnston
    Registered Users Posts: 10,501 ✭✭✭✭MJohnston


    is_that_so wrote: »
    I wasn't. I had to go looking for those stats. The Ronan ones are trotted out regularly and are really clickbait IMO. The Streep haul is not experience, it's superior talent. That's not to say that Ronan doesn't have quite a bit of talent but I do feel she is limited in a Keira Knightley way to what she can play really well. That may change but I'm not convinced she will ever be in the pantheon of truly greats but she will always be considered good.

    Okay.

    Is it fine if I continue to think she's excellent and not at all limited?


  • Options
    #41
    PressRun
    Registered Users Posts: 3,126 ✭✭✭PressRun


    I really enjoyed this. Haven't read the book or seen previous adaptations, so kind of went in blind. I thought it had a lot of heart and warmth and was clearly made with a lot of love. I was so drawn into it and got very lost in this world. Great casting and brilliant chemistry between them all, particularly Saoirse Ronan and the Chalamet lad.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #42
    Goodshape
    Registered Users Posts: 8,488 ✭✭✭Goodshape


    Really good! Loved it.


  • Options
    #43
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    MJohnston wrote: »
    Saoirse is just mind-boggingly confident an actor at such an early age. She absolutely dominates the screen, even when she’s sharing it with legends like Tracey Letts or Meryl Streep. I thought she was a touch more interesting in Ladybird than this, but still absolutely excellent here, and I think its more to do with how Jo is more of a conventional character than Lady Bird - still shares a lot of her live-wire anxieties though.

    This was a beautiful movie, so refined and well put together for a second feature. The Dundrum screen was terribly badly lit, but it was Kaminski-esque natural lighting and a pop of colour in the ‘memory’ scenes.

    Speaking of which, the choice to tell the story with a split chronology was a very good idea, there’s a lot of lovely contrasts highlighted by this, and it really makes the story feel more modern. I have never read the book or seen other adaptations but I suspect they could feel a lot more rote if they stick with a linear story. From what I’ve read the school ending is how the book ends, and the publisher ending is newly created, which is another excellent addition. It really recontextualises what you’ve watched, almost in a very meta way, and smooths put any issues you might have had with the swing from naturalistic behaviour to more romanticised feel good stuff (I was thinking it was going to be a weak ending, too perfect, so I really loved that “twist”).

    Florence Pugh is a real revelation here, best of the ensemble outside of Ronan. Emma Watson was the least impressive, but her over-rehearsed feeling kind of jived with the character, who was clearly the type to desire her life to follow the script she’d dreamed of all her life. My MVP though, and would be my pick for Best Supporting Actor, is Chris Cooper. His moment when Beth plays the piano had me crying with nary a word spoken. I wish they had not underlined this moment later on in the film, but it was still a heartbreaking piece of acting.

    Christ on a bike, I did not recognise Cooper. :eek:


  • Options
    #44
    El Duda
    Registered Users Posts: 867 ✭✭✭El Duda


    Little Women – 9/10

    I had very high expectations for this despite being underwhelmed with Greta Gerwig’s previous film ‘Ladybird’. It was the stellar ensemble cast that really drew me in as almost every cast member had done standout work in recent months. The performances didn’t let me down, but it was Gerwig’s direction that really stood out to me. This is an astonishingly well directed film. Every scene leaps off the screen. It zips and swirls with such kinetic energy and each frame is rich with detail.

    This is my first exposure to the classic story, so I have no comparison to make, but this struck me right in the feels. Whilst Ronan and Pugh get many meaty chunks of dialogue and scenery chewing moments, it is the more subtle moments that the likes Chris Cooper get that really hit home.

    It took a little while to grab me and the chronology of the story is slightly confusing, but this is a fantastic period drama. Any Director who manages to get an adequate performance out of Emma Watson deserves an award.


  • Options
    #45
    MJohnston
    Registered Users Posts: 10,501 ✭✭✭✭MJohnston


    Oscar noms for Best Picture, Saoirse as Lead Actress, Pugh as Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design, Desplat for Score.

    I think Saoirse and Pugh have a good shot here.


  • Options
    #46
    EagererBeaver
    Registered Users Posts: 6,411 ✭✭✭EagererBeaver


    Zellweger has Best Actress locked up and Laura Dern has Best Supporting 95% locked up.


  • Options
    #47
    MJohnston
    Registered Users Posts: 10,501 ✭✭✭✭MJohnston


    Dern is nominated for a Netflix movie, I'd be very surprised if she has anywhere near that amount of support (are you in the Academy chatroom or something btw? ;) ) but I agree Zellweger probably has the perfect Oscar bait role there.


  • Options
    #48
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    MJohnston wrote: »
    Oscar noms for Best Picture, Saoirse as Lead Actress, Pugh as Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design, Desplat for Score.

    I think Saoirse and Pugh have a good shot here.

    Ronan will strike out again (some day, Saoirse, some day!) but I think Pugh has a good shot. She gave the best performance in the film IMO.


  • Options
    #49
    Goodshape
    Registered Users Posts: 8,488 ✭✭✭Goodshape


    Feel like Gerwig should have had a Best Director nomination for this. Complex period story over mutiple advancing timelines, with an ensable cast, and everything fit together and flowed perfectly.


  • Options
    #50
    S.M.B.
    Registered Users Posts: 9,350 ✭✭✭S.M.B.


    Hope she can pick up the adapted screenplay award given no nomination for her directing.


  • Options
    #51
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    I saw this yesterday and it was quite good. I wasn’t expecting it to be funny so that was a pleasant surprise. However, I didn’t think the jumbled up chronology quite worked and I think the film was too busy. There should have more introspective moments as some of the scenes were robbed of their poignancy because of the hurried pace. Another issue I had was that I felt that Ronan lacked chemistry with both her love interests.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #52
    MJohnston
    Registered Users Posts: 10,501 ✭✭✭✭MJohnston


    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »
    Another issue I had was that I felt that Ronan lacked chemistry with both her love interests.

    This was entirely intentional imo.


  • Options
    #53
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    MJohnston wrote: »
    This was entirely intentional imo.

    It was intentional that she had no chemistry with
    the Professor? That doesn’t make sense. Actually it doesn’t for either men. She decided she wanted to be with Laurie so we’re lead to believe there was an attraction there too.


  • Options
    #54
    S.M.B.
    Registered Users Posts: 9,350 ✭✭✭S.M.B.


    I think there's a certain level of attraction between Saoirse and her love interests.

    But if you read the ending as
    she ends up with neither man
    then it makes perfect sense to me.


  • Options
    #55
    MJohnston
    Registered Users Posts: 10,501 ✭✭✭✭MJohnston


    Yep, that's what I mean SMB.
    To me the perfect ending is a fake, it's a piece of imagination, much like all the flashbacks to the happier past are memories. Which is why I think the chemistry with the Prof was absent - it was all too perfect, like a Hollywood rom com where two actors are paired up regardless of chemistry. The reason I think she doesn't have chemistry with Laurie is simpler - she talked herself into loving him because she's scared of being alone - it's false but in a different way. I would point out Ronan and Chalamet had good chemistry in Lady Bird, which is of a very adolescent variety but still present.
    But that's the beauty of the ending imo - you're free to interpret it all as entirely truthful, or to distrust the bright and shiny perfect ending as false.
    Also, I'll say this. Saoirse had very strong queer energy in this movie, and I don't think that was unintentional either.


  • Options
    #56
    Technocentral
    Registered Users Posts: 6,101 ✭✭✭Technocentral


    MJohnston wrote: »
    Oscar noms for Best Picture, Saoirse as Lead Actress, Pugh as Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design, Desplat for Score.

    I think Saoirse and Pugh have a good shot here.

    Pugh and Laura Dern were the best things in it.


  • Options
    #57
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    S.M.B. wrote: »
    I think there's a certain level of attraction between Saoirse and her love interests.

    But if you read the ending as
    she ends up with neither man
    then it makes perfect sense to me.

    Well, I guess detecting chemistry is subjective.

    But
    whether or not Jo ended up with either, they were certainly supposed to be into her and I didn’t feel it. I just didn’t either had chemistry with Ronan. That’s not all on her of course. It just sometimes doesn’t happen between actors but it does affect films unfortunately.


  • Options
    #58
    S.M.B.
    Registered Users Posts: 9,350 ✭✭✭S.M.B.


    MJohnston wrote: »
    Yep, that's what I mean SMB.
    To me the perfect ending is a fake, it's a piece of imagination, much like all the flashbacks to the happier past are memories.
    It's certainly my reading of the ending too, and it's strongly alluded to without being made explicit. The contrast between the way the scene with the professor is presented to us vs the scene where Jo looks at her book being made made is quite stark imo.

    I think it's an example of a movie ending open to interpretation that really works well. Believing that she got the guy and the career is a perfectly valid reading of the ending.


  • Options
    #59
    MJohnston
    Registered Users Posts: 10,501 ✭✭✭✭MJohnston


    To each their own, I definitely thought
    both men had a lot of chemistry for her, but she just wasn't returning it much (and as before, to me this seemed entirely intentional).


  • Options
    #60
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    S.M.B. wrote: »
    It's certainly my reading of the ending too, and it's strongly alluded to without being made explicit. The contrast between the scene with the professor is presented to us vs the scene where Jo looks at her book being made made is quite stark imo.

    I think it's an example of a movie ending open to interpretation that really works well. Believing that she got the guy and the career is a perfectly valid reading of the ending.
    The ending did seem improbable. In horse and cart times, they had time to go upstairs and spruce up her appearance AND catch him? Not likely.

    This kind of highlights another fault I had with the film. It was all very glossy, all the time, so there wasn’t enough delineation between different points in the chronology and between reality and possible dreams.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #61
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    MJohnston wrote: »
    To each their own, I definitely thought
    both men had a lot of chemistry for her, but she just wasn't returning it much (and as before, to me this seemed entirely intentional).

    Yeah, this isn’t a black and white thing. I’ve heard it said before about other films that such-and-such didn’t have chemistry and I’ve disagreed.


Advertisement