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Gillian Armstrong: Directors
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Twenty years ago, director Gillian Armstrong, made a film about three ordinary teenage friends growing up in the seventies. 'Not Fourteen Again' completes the circle: there are now three teenage daughters to add their perspective to that of their mothers'. A fascinating and emotional journey through the real dramas of life.
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Columbia TriStar's Collector's Edition DVD of Gillian Armstrong's Little Women brings one of the loveliest costume dramas in recent memory to your living room on a feature-packed disc that will please even the most ardent fans. This poignant adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's beloved 1868 novel chronicles the adventures of the March family over the course of the Civil War, a time in which the country, like the Marchs, experienced both triumph and hardship in staggering quantities. Although Winona Ryder received an Oscar nomination for her impressive portrayal of Jo March, the real stars of the film are the elegant costumes, courtesy of designer Colleen Atwood (who ... received -- and certainly deserved -- an Oscar nomination). The disc includes a stunningly beautiful anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) transfer, a making-of featurette, multiple theatrical trailers, an audio commentary track with director Gillian Armstrong, several deleted scenes (with optional director commentary), an isolated musical score, a historical timeline of the film's events, a costume/set design photo gallery (with commentary by Colleen Atwood), and two trivia games.
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Gillian May Armstrong was born in Melbourne, Australia. Her father was an amateur photographer, and she studied art and film at the Swinburne Technical College from 1968. She debuted as producer-writer-director short films such as 1970's Old Man and Dog and the 8-minute Roof Needs Mowing (1971).
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Louisa May Alcott's story of sisterhood, liberation and love gets a competent, reverent Hollywood treatment from Australian director Gillian Armstrong, but the casting is all wrong. Since when is Winona Ryder capable of carrying a movie? Starring as the multidimensional Jo March, Ryder robs the movie of its professionalism and renders trivial skilled performances by the other Little Women in the cast: Trini Alvarado(playing the sweet, marriage-bound sister), Claire Danes(who makes sickliness look like a virtue), Kirsten Dunst(as the fiery young'un) and Susan Sarandon(as the ever-consoling mom). Ryder has been OK in other films, but in pictures like this you can tell she's trying to act. You shouldn't be able to tell.
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This new DVD's features are a delight, especially in Gillian Armstrong's intense narration on the commentary track. She had a vision and depth of attention to this film's details that ought to be celebrated, yet rarely is for women directors. Outtakes are ... narrated, a rarity. The making-of featurette and other elements are well-shaped, though Danes's behind-the-scenes program from HBO is not present, which is a bit disappointing.
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