The movie, “Little Women,” directed by Greta Gerwig released on 25th December 2019. It is based on the books “Little Women” and “Good Wives” written by Louisa May Alcott, which were published in the nineteenth and the twentieth century.
The story follows the March sisters – Margaret, Josephine, Amy, and Elizabeth March, who go by the names Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth, and live a life of poverty while their father is fighting as a chaplain in the American Civil War. The heroine of the movie, however, is Jo March. The four sisters befriend their neighbor, Theodore Lawrence, or Laurie.
Jo, who was a tomboy with a short temper, was always passionate about writing. As a teenager, she wrote many plays, which she and her sisters used to enact in front of the other children of the neighborhood. She goes on to write a book about her sisters and their domestic struggles. Amy, much younger than Jo, wanted to be the greatest artist of all time. Meg, a great actor, had no great wishes in life, but she disliked her life of poverty. Beth, the best of them and great at the piano, catches scarlet fever, as a teenager and later as an adult, which becomes the reason for her death.
The story goes back to the past of the sisters, where they are shown as adolescents, and compares it with the present, where each of the girls is more mature and grown.
The younger selves of Jo and Amy had many fights and later we see that they learn to not be angry at one another. Meg always played her role of the elder sister perfectly, correcting her sisters when they went wrong. Beth, on the other hand, was always a quiet girl who kept the family together and reminded them not to fret over trivial things, and to always be grateful.
As the girls grow up, Meg marries John Brooke, Laurie’s tutor. Amy marries Laurie, who had been turned down by Jo, who ended up marrying Professor Friedrick Bhaer. Beth, unfortunately, gives up to scarlet fever. The bond between the four March sisters is, however, summed up very well when Jo says “Life is too short to be angry at one’s sisters.”
The sisters stick together through fights, bleak winters without Mr. and Mrs. March, and find solace in their sisterhood, without fretting over being poor. Each of the characters is perfectly portrayed and none of the important parts of the bond between the sisters has been excluded from the screenplay. I’d highly recommend the movie to anyone looking for a movie with strong female lead characters, who break stereotypes and learn to laugh in the darkest of times.
Each actor has enhanced the movie with their natural and outstanding performance. Jo was played by Saoirse Ronan, who has expressed every emotion perfectly. Amy was played by Florence Pugh, and although Amy wasn’t supposed to have a big role being the younger sister, Pugh has certainly promoted her character to being the second heroine of the film with excellent dialog delivery, voice modulation, and acting to go with it. We can see how she matures as she grows up, and how her acting fits her character perfectly. Meg was played by Emma Watson, which was a good try, but not a performance that stood out. Beth was played by Eliza Scanlen, who does justice to the character and her performance was satisfactory. The other characters like Laura Dern, Timothee Chalamet, Meryl Streep, James Norton, and Louis Garrel certainly did not let me down. The casting of this movie was one of those which I greatly appreciate.
All in all, the screenplay was very well written, the direction and acting were very well carried out, and most importantly, it did justice to the book. Little Women includes various aspects of sisterhood, friendship, love, and heartbreak and is one of our family must-watch movies.
By
Urja Srivastava,
Grade 10
Ekya School, JP Nagar
I work tirelessly day and night
For freedom i will fight
I put others ahead of me
My country, it will be free
If it is war i will go
I will and i must move against my foe
If i must give my life, i will
My country is exploited and my foe will pay the bill
If peace is the answer
It is better for us, him and her
Billion is more than one,
I will fight for others, my family and son.
If i must stand alone i will willingly do
If i must fight alongside others i will do to
For it’s not about me
My country, it shall be free
I will run through the deserts
I won't be stopped by emotion opinions or hurts
With every step, there is only one goal in my mind
My country, freedom it shall find
When i run my final race
I will with a smile on my face
For at the end of the day
I bought freedom closer to the bay
My actions are for my mother land
The one who shelters us in her hand
For it is not about me
My country, it shall be free
Grade 6
Ekya School, JP Nagar
Mixing five classic elements, different in feature,
God prepared a dish and named it nature.
He decorated it up from north pole to south pole,
Filled it with life, and blessed it with a soul.
The soul was named human really a wonder,
A body was granted so intricate and tender.
God bestowed on human a gift, nature,
To protect it in present, to preserve it for future.
Human enjoyed the macrocosm, and found solace,
Respected it, worshiped it as a sacred place.
He lived, procreated, and continued generations,
But loyalty to nature declined over successions.
Now human has reached the point of no return,
Destroying fellow creatures, playing satan.
Trying to gain control on everything around,
Being wise by penny, but foolish by pound.
Human never realized nature’s potential,
Living in delusion that his power is torrential.
If nature shows fury, causes natural calamities,
Human will suffer genocide, enormous fatalities.
Human has forgotten the lessons that God taught him,
Eventually, would pay price for his fancies and whim.
If human race is to survive, sustain, and see progress,
From responsibilities towards nature, it cannot digress
Its high time human learnt to maintain harmony
Between him and nature, to do away with agony
Respect to nature will earn humans ages to live
Nature has options, human has no alternative
Cooperation and coexistence if favored the most
Sure in human’s name will nature propose a toast.
By
Joshitha Rani,
Grade 10
Ekya School, JP Nagar
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