The book that “warped” Greta Gerwig’s mind
American filmmaker Greta Gerwig made history with the release of Barbie, which became the first female-directed movie to gross over $1 billion. Despite her indie origins, Gerwig has come to dominate the mainstream due to the success of Barbie, the first movie in Mattel’s budding cinematic universe.
Gerwig’s career began in the mid-2000s, becoming a prominent figure in the mumblecore and American independent scene. After starring in movies such as Baghead and Nights and Weekends, the latter she co-directed with Joe Swanberg, Gerwig began to feature in more mainstream pictures like No Strings Attached and Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love. However, Gerwig soon became best known for her collaborations with her future husband Noah Baumbach, appearing in movies like Greenberg, Frances Ha and Mistress America, co-writing the latter two.
Her solo directorial debut came in 2017 with the critically acclaimed coming-of-age comedy-drama Lady Bird, starring Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet. Praised for its tender exploration of mother-daughter relationships, class, suburbia and identity, Lady Bird earned five Academy Award nominations. The movie was significantly influenced by one of Gerwig’s literary icons, Joan Didion, whose writing runs deep within the veins of the director’s work.
Both artists hail from Sacramento, California, where Lady Bird is set. Gerwig explained in Interview Magazine that reading Didion shaped her view of her hometown. “It was the first time I’d read something by an artist—a great artist—who was working in the same place I was from and writing about it. And it was the first inkling I had that maybe I didn’t need to be a different person in order to make something that was worth anything.”
Clearly, literature has significantly impacted Gerwig’s trajectory as an artist. Thus, it’s unsurprising the director chose to adapt a classic novel as her second project – Little Women. Gerwig took Louisa May Alcott’s iconic children’s story and gave it a new lease of life, resulting in a new generation of young people discovering and cherishing the book.
Gerwig recognises the vital importance of literature in shaping our world views, having read an extensive amount of books herself. Talking to One Grand Books, she revealed the novel that “warped” her mind into “a new shape.” Her choice was none other than Virginia Woolf’s lucid 1927 novel To The Lighthouse, a defining work of the modernist period.
Like most of Woolf’s work, the story becomes a vessel for deep contemplation of grand themes like perception and connection. Discussing her love for the book, Gerwig said, “A classic for a reason. My mind was warped into a new shape by her prose and it will never be the same again. The metaphysics she presents in the book are enacted in a way that allowed me to begin to understand that corner of philosophy.”
Woolf remains one of the most celebrated writers of the 20th century, although her work has rarely been successfully executed in a cinematic form. Perhaps one day, Gerwig will adapt one of Woolf’s novels for the big screen.
