Les quatre filles du docteur March

I've enjoyed every adaptation of Little Women that I've seen, and this was no exception. As someone who enjoys comparing adaptations across time, I find the story told in this newer style of acting, directing, music etc. a valuable addition to the collection. Some people may not like aspects such as scenes of the Civil War where Father is, and this is the first time we see any of Meg's labour, but for me neither is excessive and both are worth including.

This adaptation isn't perfect, any more than its predecessors are perfect, but let me not list my small gripes here. I found it overall well written, well acted and well cast. The descriptions of the characters were clearly considered when casting (if not 100% adhered to), which is a nice touch and the cherry on top of the actors' generally fine performances. In particular I found Meg engaging, Aunt March very satisfying and Laurie almost straight from the pages of the book, while Father is (I feel) a loyal interpretation yet unlike any I have seen before.

I have read Little Women so many times that I have lost count and was looking forward to seeing this rendition. What a disappointment. As others have mentioned the acting is mediocre at best and the script seems trite. I only watched about half of it and then tuned out.

Amy was played by a 20 year old actress playing a twelve year old child. She was obviously too old, yet they insisted that she milk her childish ways (can you tie my skate, marmie says I'm old enough to do my own hair, etc.) to the point where I was actually laughing at scenes that weren't intended to be funny. Drug store box bleached hair (it was a ghastly shade of yellow), not a fitting actress for the part in any way. Enough said, Amy was everything that was bad about this film, well, almost.. They completely skipped the plays and left Jo and Laurie full drama. To those who say this film is to the book, I ask, what book did you read? Some say they should have used British actresses. Why would they do that for a tale that took place in Massachusetts during the Civil War? Did. I love it ? Yes! I just acknowledge that there were parts I couldn't get past. Though I thought Beth had a bit of overkill, I thought the actress was fantastic and clearly played on the directors vision. She is a fantastic actress. I preferred Claire Danes but this woman (let's face it, she's over 20) is a brilliant actress. I think that the actress that played Marmie was possibly the best of anyone that I have seen tackle the part. She pulled raw emotion from me in a way that Susan Sarandon didn't (even though I loved her in the part). The real show stopper was Maya Hawke, as Jo. She was everything that is Jo for me. It was like she had leaped from the page. I loved her on Stranger Things and have been a fan of her mother and father ever since I was a child. I loved that they led up to Jos Boys. I think in all they did a fantastic job, but I think That they should have sucked it up and used 2 actresses for Amy, and not this one. She didn't fit the part.

Little Women (TV Mini-Series 2017) was a BBC/Masterpiece Theater production directed by Vanessa Caswill. This novel lends itself to the world of cinema, and many good versions are available. However, I liked this one best.

Maya Hawke does very well as Jo, which couldn't have been easy, because she's very beautiful and Jo is supposed to be the plain one. Kathryn Newton plays Amy March, who is beautiful but "willful." Willa Fitzgerald portrays Meg March, the most beautiful and most conventional sister. Annes Elwy plays Beth, who is extremely shy. Elwy is Welsh, and speaks Welsh, but I didn't hear any accent when she played the role.

Angela Lansbury plays Aunt March perfectly. Believe it or not, I thought she was even better than Maggie Smith(!).

Mark Stanley plays Professor Bhaer, which is a difficult role. Directors have protrayed Professor Bhaer as old and stodgy, in which case you wonder what Jo had in mind. Other directors have made the character young and handsome, and so Jo's choice is a no-brainer. I think director Caswill got this casting exactly right. Somewhat older, but not stodgy, and just handsome enough to attract a young woman like Jo.

My favorite actor in the movie was Emily Watson who played Marmee. She is a highly experienced English actor. (Again, no trace of an accent.) She looks like the character she portrays--saddened and toughened by a life of genteel poverty. Raising four very different daughters on her own could not have been easy, but Watson allows us to believe she could do it. Just her work alone would be enough to make me recommend the movie.

This version of Little Women was made for TV as a three-part miniseries. Three hours of screen time gave director Caswill the opportunity to address most of the many plot lines in the novel. We saw the movie on DVD, and we could have watched it as a single long movie. However, we watched it in three one-hour episodes, as intended by the producers. Either way will work.

Little Women has a pretty good IMDb rating of 7.2. I thought that it was much better than that, and rated it 9.

If you're a fan of the book, you'll enjoy this series. I've read the book several times, and was glad I chose this version of Little Women to watch over my holiday break.

If you haven't read the book you may feel the acting is a little flat or the speech odd in places. But I've found that movies and mini series that stay true to the older books they were written often after aren't as dramatic what we're accustomed to. They didn't try to modernize the show. It remains the same wholesome story about the March family's struggles living in the US during the mid-to-late 1800's.

The March family is middle class. Enough money to have food on the table, a comfortable home, and one servant. But not enough to buy much that is new or to afford travel as their wealthier neighbors do. They are concerned about those around them who are less fortunate, and sacrifice of themselves to care for others. The daughters' personalities vary - with a tomboy, a "princess", and two girls whose personalities fall in between. There is war, death, love, friendship... Basically it's just about real life, and well worth watching in my opinion.