Little Women

Drama/Romance. Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothee Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Louis Garrel, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk.

Marmee (Laura Dern) presides warmly over the March family home while her husband (Bob Odenkirk) is enlisted in the American Civil War.

Her four daughters pursue their dreams.

Jo (Saoirse Ronan) wishes to become a writer, Meg (Emma Watson) hopes to become a famous actress, Amy (Florence Pugh) yearns to step out of Jo's shadow so handsome next-door neighbour Laurie (Timothee Chalamet) might look her way, and Beth (Eliza Scanlen) loves to play the piano.

The siblings' paths diverge courtesy of romantic dalliances and grave sickness, while clucky Aunt March (Meryl

Streep) advises the brood

to marry well because "no-one makes their own way, not really, least of all a woman". Little Women is distinguished by terrific performances including Ronan as the fiercely independent wordsmith, who is fully aware of the lack of privilege afforded her sex. Dern is a perfectly protective matriarch and Oxford-born actress Pugh elevates petulant, self-absorbed Amy.

As guardian of Louisa May Alcott's beloved text, writer-director Greta Gerwig remains faithful to the original words and abides by literary tropes. She also indulges in postfeminist revisionism to set her Little Women apart from previous incarnations and strike a chord in the MeToo era.

She reinvents gruff German professor Friedrich Bhaer as a swooning French scholar played by Louis Garrel as a visually appealing rival to dreamy Chalamet's Laurie for Jo's affections.

The fractured chronology isn't entirely successful. By reframing the death of a pivotal figure, Gerwig dampens the emotional impact and the juxtaposition of scenes eight years apart can be confusing.

Rating: ****