Little Women
Short description
Set in Concord, Massachusetts during and after the American Civil War, Little Women follows the four March sisters as they grow up while their father is away serving in the war. Their mother holds the household together through hard times, and the sisters move from childhood toward adulthood, with Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy each facing their own questions of independence, love and loyalty. The story comes from Louisa May Alcott's novel.
Gillian Armstrong directed the film, the fifth feature in her directing career, following Mrs. Soffel and preceding Charlotte Gray. Robin Swicord wrote the screenplay, and Denise Di Novi produced. Winona Ryder plays Jo, with Trini Alvarado as Meg, Claire Danes as Beth, Samantha Mathis and Kirsten Dunst sharing the role of Amy, and Christian Bale as Laurie. The production was a Canadian-American co-production from Columbia Pictures, Di Novi Pictures and MGM, made for about 18 million dollars and earning roughly 50 million worldwide. It runs 115 minutes.
Audiences rate the film around 7.3 out of 10 on both IMDb and TMDB, while a critics' score of 7.7 from 99 reviews places it slightly above those viewer ratings. The credited cast and crew total 60 and 67 respectively.
What's left behind the scenes
- Dresses in the family were passed down from older sisters to younger ones to emphasize, on the one hand, the family's poverty, and on the other, the closeness of the sisters. Jo's red dress, which she wears to the ball where she sees Laurie, is worn by Beth the following Christmas as she comes downstairs after her illness; Jo and Beth are as close as Meg and Amy. Meg's blue-striped dress, which she doesn't wear to Sally's first ball, is later shown on Amy when she announces she is going to Europe with Aunt March.
- Winona Ryder filmed wearing a wig, and Susan Sarandon and Claire Danes also filmed wearing wigs by the renowned master Peter Owen.
- The interior of the house is similar to the interior of the ancestral home of Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), the author of the novel of the same name (1868) which served as the literary basis for this adaptation, in the city of Concord, Massachusetts.
- During filming, Claire Danes was walking up the stairs with a lit candle in her hand when her hair caught fire.
- The film was shot in Massachusetts (USA) and British Columbia (Canada).
- Winona Ryder dedicated this film to Polly Hannah Klaas, a 12-year-old girl who was killed in Petaluma, California – Winona Ryder's hometown. "Little Women" was Polly's favorite book.
- Winona Ryder, who played the lead role, invited Christian Bale to join the film.
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