Rating of
4/4
Gone with the Wind
SteelCity99 - wrote on 04/21/18
Victor Fleming achieved what had never been achieved in filmmaking before, and definitively would not be achieved until decades later within the genre of epic cinema; neither the world was ever so majestically amazed on the level this film did 70 years ago. Regardless of the fact that Fleming had amazed all types of audiences in the same year, including both young and old people and critics with Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, he gave birth to one of the best movies of all time, and certainly the best American classic ever made.
Gone with the Wind has been recognized as the best classic film, as well as one of the most moving and romantic stories ever brought to the big screen, worshiped generation by generation. Nowadays, the film still keeps astonishing new generations definitely. It was a work of art that fitted perfectly with general audiences, especially American. Back in the year of 1940, the film won 8 Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (I will focus on that too), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography (Color), Best Film Editing and Best Screenplay and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Special Effects, Best Original Score and Best Sound.
Gone with the Wind is set in the times of the Civil War, one of the most turbulent, tragic, difficult and chaotic periods of American history, as well as during the following Reconstruction. Such turmoil and tragedy are brilliantly maximized and emphasized by the direction, cinematography and acting provided. Scarlett O'Hara is a young woman of particular class and elegance, deeply in love with Ashley, but soon finds out that he will be getting married with her cousin, Melanie. Totally heartbroken and without illusions, Scarlett implores Ashley to choose her instead of Melanie, since she loves him profoundly; unfortunately, his heart already belongs to another person. After such discussion, the real male protagonist appears: Rhett Butler. From this point, the film will portray, mostly through Scarlett's eyes, the romance that these two characters will have through such difficult times.
The performance of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara is definitely unparalleled. She managed to create a totally identifiable character, characterized by her constant changing range of emotions and by the incredible strength she acquires through life, since she must escape from the disasters caused by the war until she's forced to grow her own food in incredibly tough life conditions in order to survive. Somehow, when Scarlett swears "she'll never be hungry again", the moment turned out to be so inspirational that she awakened the hearts of millions of people, and if some were not awakened, these were definitely moved permanently to an impressive level. It ended being a reflection of how thankful we should be with what we have in our daily lives and the negative effect (or devastating effect, depending on the degree) that may be caused in us if we lose the object or even our loved one before we really knew how to be thankful and make the best use of it. This is how the first half of the film ends, which decades ago ended up being the famous intermission. Both the intermission and the ending were perfectly planned. Scarlett O'Hara was an effective model of strength and perseverance, no matter if the audience were male or female; the moral of the story stroke in a very inspiring and direct way, and the intermission as well as the last shot of the film are two of my favorite scenes in movie history for my taste.
The already famous and handsome man of Hollywood Clark Gable, who got a considerable amount of popularity since 1934 with the Academy Award winning movie It Happened One Night, portrays a completely different and opposite character: a liberal, not-so-romantic person, a drinker who enjoys the good life, as well as a wealthy and completely unpredictable man. Despite Gone with the Wind being a romantic epic movie, it is not the typical romance one expects since the beginning. The ending, despite providing one of the most famous (and brilliant) dialogues in cinema history, was not predicted by anyone. It definitely wouldn't have been the same if it hadn't been spoken by Clark Gable himself. Love, tragedy and disappointment are presented from beginning to end. It is mandatory to emphasize the performance of Hattie McDaniel, best known for her performance as "Mammy," the colored maid of Scarlett. Her performance is simply sublime. It is not so surprising that she became one of the favorite characters of the story for so many people. Not only she is funny and nice, but she also acquires a very important influence in the story because of the righteousness and seriousness she has since the beginning, because of her capacity for empathy towards Scarlett and because of the responsibilities she acquires, the majority of these being unpredictable for her considering the difficult times in which Gone with the Wind is set. Obviously Hattie McDaniel won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, becoming the first Afro-American actress with such honor. Fair enough. Racism and prejudice lost that time.
The last insuperably beautiful technical aspects that must be highlighted are both the cinematography and the original musical score. If there is something characteristic and true about Gone with the Wind is the fact that both aspects, masterly brought to the big screen, (in full color when talking about the cinematography) create art when put together. The shots are beautifully taken care of, offering beautiful landscapes, open fields and a sunset that is in the end highly inspiring to the human eye, including Scarlett's figure and the tree next to her, both completely and contrastingly covered in shadows. "After the night, the dawn comes." This marks a new beginning in the life of Scarlett, since "tomorrow is another day." The music is beautiful, worthy of a soundtrack. I can't understand why it didn't won the Oscar for Best original Score, especially since listening to its music 70 years later brings us beautiful memories of the past which are summarized in this film of 238 minutes.
As a conclusion, Gone with the Wind is the definition of cinema. From the technical aspects such as special effects, sound and musical score to the cinematographic aspects such as the photography, direction, screenplay and acting, Gone with the Wind is an unparalleled, unprecedented, beautiful, inspiring, thoughtful and legendary classic, unique in its genre, brought to the big screen for the audiences of the world in a time when the world needed a breath of life, an inspiration that could bring warmth to the heart of the world, on the eve of World War II.
100/100
