seen on 5 January 2020
Greta Gerwig directs Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlon, Laura Dern and Timothée Chalamet in her own adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's famous novel about four sisters growing up near Concord Massachusetts in the 1860s (in the shadow of the American Civil War).
The book has been adapted for theatre, film and TV many times - indeed there was a creditable TV version as recently as 2017 - but a fresh look at a much-loved classic can often be justified if it is well conceived and produced. In this case, the film is an enjoyable entertainment, perhaps undercutting its more melodramatic moments and thus avoiding some of the sentimentality attached to the storyline.
