SCÈNE 17. Marya E. Gates, Film Historian, Writer, and Author

A distant figure down a green lane, a close-up on requited feelings.

A New Year calls for a more streamlined look for Mise-En-Scène. Welcome to edition number 17!

Our guest curator for this edition is

Marya E. Gates

, a prolific film writer, cinema historian, enthusiastic Letterboxd user, and author of the upcoming book, Cinema Her Way: Visionary Female Directors In Their Own Words (out March 4th from Rizzoli; pre-order here). In her work, Gates brings a keen awareness of how feminist sensibilities shape storytelling.

Gates’s Mise-En-Scène pick is the final scene in Gillian Armstrong's Little Women (1994). She first experienced the film at age eight alongside her mother, a fan of Louisa May Alcott’s novel. It’s easy to understand why it endures: the perfect Hollywood ensemble cast, Thomas Newman’s gorgeous score. There’s something stately but overwhelmingly genuine about the film, mirroring Winona Ryder’s spirited performance as our heroine Jo March: classic, sturdy, incorrigible, romantic, surprising.

As a ‘90s child myself, Gates’s selection delights me, especially because most zeitgeist-y discussions today tend to spotlight Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation. (Recency bias!) Nothing against Gerwig—I feel the two films are in knowing dialogue with each other, and they even share three key collaborators in Robin Swicord, Denise Di Novi, and Amy Pascal—but when I’m home sick and looking to nurse a hot beverage for two hours, I’m reaching for the version that knows just what to do with a doleful Claire Danes as Beth March and her sublime ugly-crying.

Complimenting Gates’s love of films is her total immersion in a deep well of cultural touchstones: David Lynch's insights, vividly captured in Lynch on Lynch; Ken Layne's enigmatic Desert Oracle audio tales; and Nathan Gelgud's nervy Reel Politik comics. Read her full list of current cultural favorites in MARYA E. GATES RECOMMENDS down below.

But first, Marya E. Gates¹ on the finale of Little Women up ahead. (Gates actually discussed this same scene with Armstrong for Cinema Her Way, so it’s a treat to get a tease of its personal impact on her here!)

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FILM HISTORIAN, WRITER, AND AUTHOR MARYA E. GATES ON THE FINAL SCENE IN GILLIAN ARMSTRONG’S LITTLE WOMEN, 1994

This shot comes towards the end of Gillian Armstrong's Little Women (1994) when Professor Bhaer (Gabriel Byrne) has dropped off Jo's manuscript for her book, but mistakenly thinks she's married Laurie (Christian Bale), so he leaves without talking to her. She races out to find him, shouts his name, and he turns around to face her.

I first saw this movie in my hometown theater—The Niles Theater- when it was released. I was eight years old. I watched it with my mother, who said [Little Women] was her favorite book. I love the way Armstrong makes Bhaer so far away in the lane because it shows the emotional state of them both. He feels he has lost Jo, and Jo feels that he might forever be far away from her. I love how the verdant forest overwhelms him, yet he still commands the frame.

I can still remember my heart dropping the first time I saw this movie and it still does every time I watch it, even though I've seen it hundreds of times. That's the power of visual storytelling! I actually talked with Armstrong about her thought process for this scene in my book, which was a dream come true. My brain immediately went to the scene this shot sets up the first time I heard Rihanna's "Umbrella."

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MARYA E. GATES RECOMMENDS

1. Lynch on Lynch (2005), edited by Chris Rodley.
   
   Marya says: I read this book when I was in film school almost 15 years ago. It not only taught me to appreciate the work of the late David Lynch more than I did before I read it, but also his filmmaking ethos opened a whole new way of thinking about art in general. I've been revisiting it since the news broke that Lynch had died.
   
   

2. Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998).
   
   Marya says: Nearly 30 years after its initial release in 1998, this album is still as inventive and weird and unlike anything else I have ever heard. It truly transports me to a different plane of existence.
   
   

3. Ken Layne's Desert Oracle podcast/radio show.
   
   Marya says: The only podcast for which I’ve listened to every episode. It ranges from deep dives into California desert lore—including cryptids like the Yucca Man, UFOs, and esoteric religions that sprang up in the area at the turn of the 20th century—to pleas for ecological justice and explorations of current events through historical parallels.
   
   

4. Nathan Gelgud's Reel Politik comic on Instagram.
   
   Marya says: You might know Nathan for the film-related T-shirts and totebags he designs that have sold at the IFC Center, Film at Lincoln Center, Coolidge Corner, Cinémathèque Française, Vidéothèque, and Cinefile. But for the last few months he's been writing a daily satirical comic about a movie theater that has been taken over by a Marxist collective. I look forward to new installments every day!
   
   

5. Caryn Coleman's The Future of Film is Female.
   
   Marya says: Amazing collective dedicated to programming, incubating short films, and distribution that centers women and non-binary filmmakers. It is truly doing the most to celebrate women filmmakers from the past, support those currently making films, and uplift the newest generation. It hasn't been announced yet, but I'll be doing a few events with them when my book drops in March.

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Thank you, as always, for being here. Revel in the full spectrum of Marya E. Gates’s cinephilia: follow her on Instagram, BlueSky, and Tumblr, pre-order Cinema Her Way, and subscribe to her Substack, Cool People Have Feelings, Too.

Little Women (1994) is widely available to stream: Apple TV, Fandango At Home, and Prime Video, to name a few platforms. While the film hits hardest during the holidays, the March girls keep it hygge all year long.

Next month, a new edition of Mise-En-Scène. Until then!

1. Text lightly edited for clarity