Ahead of the 2020 Academy Awards, Vulture is revisiting the endings of this years Best Picture nominees.
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Little Womenends where it begins, in the offices of publisher Mr. Dashwood (Tracy Letts).
Jo points out that the character has firmly and repeatedly expressed a lack of interest in matrimony.
It wont be worth printing.
Gerwigs version ofLittle Womenleaps back and forth in time, but its not exactlyLost.
After that, the movie is done hopping between timelines.
Instead, what used to be the present story line becomes the past as the movie skips forward.
And, finally, were in Dashwoods office, for that fateful discussion.
Jos concession that the character will end up with someone I suppose marriage has always been an economic proposition.
Even in fiction echoes a line Amy said earlier to Laurie.
Its a reminder, maybe, of who the author of that scene was supposed to be.
Its a swooning clinch good enough to be shown in two angles.
In Gerwigs script, the scene header notes that THE PRESENT IS NOW THE PAST.
OR MAYBE FICTION, an ambiguity that comes through in the way it looks on camera as well.
Alcott herself never married.
And most importantly, in the movie we see Bhaer with Jo before we ever see her with Laurie.
Hes linked to a bustling New York overflowing with immigrants and with life.
In one, Jo watches as her book is being printed and bound.
The latter scenes, in the script, are labeled FICTION(?
But whats particularly lovely about Gerwigs maybe-maybe-not ending is that theres no need to make that call.
Maybe theyre two separate possibilities, maybe ones fiction and ones fact, and maybe theyre able to coexist.
As Dashwood puts it, Its romance!
And as Jo puts it, Its mercenary!
Like so many things in life, its actually a little of both.
