Like many young girls, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women has been a staple story in my life from a very young age. When I was about nine years old, my mom bought me an abridged copy of the book and it was my first exposure to the story. I’ve since grown into the full version of the book, which was also gifted to me by my mom as it was her old copy. When the 2019 movie finally came out, my mom and I made sure we were front row in the theater. Of course, as a then 14 year old, I was mostly there for Timothée Chalamet, but as the movie progressed, I was quickly brought back to my initial memories from my first time reading the book. As someone without sisters, I’ve always felt as though I can see myself in all four of the girls, and watching them all grow and develop together has always been so comforting and exciting to me.
As I’ve gotten older, my affinity for this story has only grown, and whenever fall rolls around, I feel the urge to revisit it, specifically Greta Gerwig’s 2019 movie adaptation. Despite a large amount of the plot being centered around Christmas and winter months, to me, it is the perfect fall movie.
While the movie has scenes from all different seasons, the autumn scenes are notable due to their abundant foliage and crisp, warm coloring. An exciting factor of this movie is the variations in color to differentiate between the past and present. The warm tones used in the past amplify the fall scenes and cover everything in a soft, brown-orange hue. Not to mention the notability of the scenes themselves, and the choice to make Laurie and Jo’s iconic falling out be surrounded by beautiful New England foliage. Every time I think about this movie, I come back to this scene in particular because of its heavy content and heartfelt acting captured in such a painfully beautiful setting.
Personally, as the weather starts to get colder, nothing makes me feel better than a nostalgic and heartwarming coming of age story. Since a large part of the movie takes place during the cold, winter months, this acts as a great transition to the brutal winter weather. Seeing such a warm story be told in such a cold and beautiful setting really helps me gear up for an always frigid New England winter. There is truly nothing better than curling up on the first cold night of the season and revisit a story as full of love as Little Women.
Although a majority of my personal love for this film comes from nostalgic memories from my childhood, I still believe that it is truly the perfect fall movie for everyone. I have convinced my dad, brother, and countless friends to watch the movie with me. It’s always on a crisp autumn night, and no matter who it is, no matter whether they have had any previous experience with it or not, they are always captivated by the beauty and emotion of the film until the very last second.
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