Reviews of Gone with the Wind

Eternal masterpiece even now.

Posted : 11 months, 2 weeks ago on 29 November 2008 09:25 (A review of Gone with the Wind)

Rhett... if you go, where shall I go, what shall I do?
Frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn.


Directed by: Victor Fleming

Starring: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, Olivia De Havilland, Hattie McDaniel

Genre: Drama/Romance/War

Running time: 228 minutes



My review:

Scarlett is a woman who can deal with a nation at war, Atlanta burning, the Union Army carrying off everything from her beloved Tara, the carpetbaggers who arrive after the war. Scarlett is beautiful. She has vitality. But Ashley, the man she has wanted for so long, is going to marry his placid cousin, Melanie. Mammy warns Scarlett to behave herself at the party at Twelve Oaks. There is a new man there that day, the day the Civil War begins. Rhett Butler. Scarlett does not know he is in the room when she pleads with Ashley to choose her instead of Melanie.

Gone With The Wind is one of those films that are so old but are still classic phenomenons after like 69 years of filmmaking. But there still have been classic films between 1939 and the present time. David O. Selznick wanted Gone with the Wind to be somehow more than a movie, a film that would broaden the very idea of what a film could be and do and look like. In many respects he got what he worked so hard to achieve in this 1939 epic (and all-time box-office champ in terms of tickets sold), and in some respects he fell far short of the goal. While the first half of this Civil War drama is taut and suspenseful and nostalgic, the second is ramshackle and arbitrary. But there's no question that the film is an enormous achievement in terms of its every resource--art direction, color, sound, cinematography--being pushed to new limits for the greater glory of telling an American story as fully as possible. Vivien Leigh is still magnificently narcissistic, Olivia de Havilland angelic and lovely, Leslie Howard reckless and aristocratic. As for Clark Gable: we're talking one of the most vital, masculine performances ever committed to film. Sidney Howard won an Oscar for writing this best screenplay.

Clark Gable delivers an absolutely outstanding performance as Rhett Butler because Clark really acted like a really charming and irresistible character and also acted quite an aggressive and powerful man aswell. Clark showed at first that Rhett is just a charming man and yet about 2 hours left of the film, he shows us how cold Rhett can actually be when he isnt in control. There are a lot of film characters that are like that when they want power and when they dont get it they either go crazy or start being aggressive towards other people. Vivien Leigh delivers an even better performance as Scarlett O Hara who is totally torn with love. She is also quite an irresistible young woman aswell because of her beauty and also of how she speaks and what she wears too. Vivien makes Scarlett an extremely emotional character because Vivien showed her emotion and truly made us feel sorry for Scarlett. The classic image of this film in my opinion is definitely when you see Scarlett and Rhett close up, Scarlett is looking up at Rhett and Rhett is looking at Scarlett while touching her chin and also the similar sort of situation but it is zoomed out and there is a beautiful scenery in the background with like the red sky. That image appears at the top of my review right now. The classic quote is Frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn which is said by Rhett Butler to Scarlett O Hara. I simply loved the rest of the cast aswell particularly Hattie McDaniel in her Oscar winning performance as the Mammy in the O Hara household.

Gone With The Wind was the first ever epic film but it is quite a different one compared to other epics like Gandhi, Lord Of The Rings, Gladiator, Ben-Hur, Dances With Wolves, Seven Samurai, The Ten Commandments, Lawrence Of Arabia and many more because it is like a romantic story aswell as a war and drama story too. The one epic I can think that is quite similar to it is Braveheart. Not because of the war action but because of the romantic story. Films like that can touch you ever so easily. This is probably the longest running feature film ever made. Other close ones are Lawrence Of Arabia, The Ten Commandments, Cleopatra and Ben Hur. Epic isnt my favourite film genre but it certainly is a genre that I love. I prefer genres like fantasy, drama, musical, animation, action and comedy.

I think that this film deserved every single Oscar win it got. It won 8 Academy Awards: Best Picture 1939, Best Leading Actress (Vivien Leigh), Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Director (Victor Fleming), Best Film Editing and Best Screenplay but was nominated for Best Leading Actor (Clark Gable), Best Supporting Actress (Olivia De Havilland), Best Visual Effects, Best Music Original Score and Best Sound Recording. It should have won Best Leading Actor because I think Clark portrayed Rhett perfectly. I personally believe that this will always be a phenomenon no matter what. Always has been and always will be a loving, adorable masterpiece!!

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Gone With the Wind

Posted : 1 year, 3 months ago on 27 July 2008 12:58 (A review of Gone with the Wind)

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable set off more sparks then a Fourth of July extraganza in this adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s seminal novel, Gone With the Wind. This is less the story of the destruction of the Old South through blood, sweat and tears then the story of one woman’s ability to survive war, husbands and anything else life can throw at her. Through determination and a glare that would make steel bend, Leigh essays the complicated debutante that is Scarlett O’Hara, one of the greatest characters ever created. She is unafraid of being a bitch, of lying, of doing anything and everything unlady-like and questionable to get her way. There is both an attraction/respect for her, and a dislike/fear of her. And nearly every scene of this four hour epic rests on Leigh’s portrayal. Luckily, she’s up to the task and gets help from a great group of supporting players. Not to mention she’s paired up with one of the most iconic screen males, Clark Gable who is impossibly dashing, suave and just as morally questionable as Rhett Butler. They deserve each other, and we spend most of the movie waiting for the two of them to get together.

Gone With the Wind is one of the great films of the studio era – showcasing how studios used every department to crank out one oversized epic per year and did so with gusto and style. The southern army suddenly expands well beyond it’s historical size, and the society is glamorized, but those mean nothing. It’s mostly a four hour soap opera between two people. And, oh, what interesting people they are!

That is nothing to say of the racist qualities of the movie. For the time, this was progressive and civil-minded stuff. But, looking at it now, it’s clunky and awkward. There’s a certain ham-fisted handling of the material. This shouldn’t deter you from watching the film, it’s a classic Oscar winner for a variety of reason. Don’t let retroactive perspectives deter you from experiencing the sweeping romantic war epic.

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one of the best

Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago on 27 April 2008 11:56 (A review of Gone with the Wind)

It became the benchmark for popular epic cinema for decades. The film is monumental enough to be beyond criticism.

It tidies up a lot of complex history… Dressed up with 1939 Technicolor, pastel-pretty for the dresses and blazing red for the passions, and a thunderous Max Steiner score, this still has a fair claim to be considered one of the best pictures of Hollywood filmmaking.


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