Netflix's ‘Little Women’ is a modern South Korean take on Louisa May Alcott’s novel

Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” is most definitely a classic. But what happens when the sisters come to South Korea?

In a recent press conference, director Kim Hee Won said the novel inspired her and writer Chung Seo Kyung to “reinterpret” it in a way that would capture the modern times.

“What if those ‘Little Women’ come to Korea? That was where we started so I think we start off from a reality that everyone can relate to and then it evolves into a very big, gigantic event,” Hee Won said.

“The sisters in the book talk extensively about wealth and poverty. I wanted to bring [them to] modern Korea,” Seo Kyung added. “How do these sisters navigate through poverty and grow into women?”

Circling on this motif, Netflix’s “Little Women” shows how three sisters will navigate life and fight against the richest family in Korea after 70 billion Korean Won magically appears in front of them.

“I wanted to write a story about young people,” the writer said. “Not love, not revenge, not adventure. Perhaps money? Our society is bursting with stories on money.”

“What does the soul of that kind of society look like? Where does desire for wealth come from?” she added. “I wanted to write a story of individuals who fight for a purpose.”

Like the novel, the Netflix series also features sisters with notable differences in character.

Oh In Joo (Kim Go Eun) is someone “who wants to protect the family with money,” while Oh In Kyung (Nam Ji Hyun) “doesn’t want to be enslaved by money.”

“You need money to express love to buy someone food, (to) let them have a shelter to sleep in, or give them a good education,” Go Eun said about her character.

The youngest Oh In Hye (Park Ji Hu), meanwhile, does her best to not be a burden to her older sisters.

Also starring Wi Ha Jun, Uhm Ji Won, Um Kijoon, Kim Mi Sook, Kang Hoon, and Jeon Chae Eun, “Little Women” is now streaming on Netflix. Two episodes will drop a week. — LA, GMA News