Little Women: Directed by Gillian Armstrong. With Winona Ryder, Gabriel Byrne, Trini Alvarado, Samantha Mathis. The March sisters live and grow in post-Civil War America. With their father away as a chaplain in the Civil War, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy grow up with their mother in somewhat reduced circumstances. They are a close family who inevitably have their squabbles and tragedies. But the bond holds even when, later, male friends start to become a part of the household.