Gone with the Wind (1939)

Although not usually described as such, among other things, book author Margaret Mitchell(MM) meant this to be a coming of age story for Scarlett, who ages from 16 to 28 in the book. It doesn't seem quite that long in the movie. Scarlett is partly based on MM herself. Like Scarlet, she was a society debutant, often with a flock of beaus simultaneously. According to the book, and somewhat exemplified in the movie, Scarlett has little taste for sex, finding it often painful and embarrassing, and sometimes leading to the more painful process of birth. She decides that she doesn't want any more babies after the first, because her waist expanded after her first birthing. Thus, lovers find it frustrating that this beauty is so frigid. .....Another overpowering theme of the book and movie is the differences in skill and luck in surviving adversity. Both Rhett and Ashley are survivals of the war, whereas most of their neighbors and relatives are not. Scarlett and Melanie are also survivors, sometimes using men to get their post-war businesses on their feet. In some ways, Scarlett is a feminist. She has good native intelligence, is manipulative, becomes a good manager of her plantation, and her new lumber business. She has learned that she can get along without a man. However, I'm puzzled by her parting question, as Rhett leaves for good: "Where will I go? What will I do"? She still had her plantation, which seemed to be operating at a profit. She had managed before without a man. She probably would like to have another child, or perhaps take in several of the many orphans or widows left from the war, since she's worried about the effect of pregnancy on her figure. Since Ashley is now a widower, she might finagle him into a largely sexless marriage?........It's not real apparent to me why Rhett is wealthy. Perhaps from his blockade running? Also, apparently, he became a scalawag after the war, which may have brought in some income........Neither Gable nor Leslie Howard(Ashley) wanted to be in this movie. For one thing, Gable dismissed it as "a woman's movie". Howard thought he was far too old(46) to be playing a supposedly 21 y.o. when Scarlett was 16. However, the casting director felt he had the best personality and physique to play the effete Ashley. In contrast, there was much competition for the roles of Scarlet and Melanie. George Cukor: the beginning director, was famous as a woman's director, in contrast to his replacement: Victor Fleming. Thus, after he was canned, Cukor still coached Vivien Leigh (Scarlett) and Olivia DeHavilland (Melanie) on weekends!.......It's strange that Melanie died soon after collapsing(swooning?), just after she exited Rhett's room, where he was mourning the death of his daughter. Suggests she had some underlying health problem, that was enhanced by psychological stress........This was but one of several tragedies late in the film. Of course, the accidental death of Rhett's and Scarlett's little girl was a shock. Rhett seemed more disturbed than Scarlett, apparently feeling that his marriage was jinxed, which accelerated his determination to opt out of the marriage......Then, there was a the pervasive tragedy of Scarlett's unreciprocated love of Ashley, and the fact that she didn't really warm up to Rhett consistently until it was too late.......Of course, the cinematography, production values, sets, costumes, and acting are all topnotch, not to mention the very memorable theme song.

Why to prolong the indecisiveness of the heroine at every stage. Too boring to sit for 4 hours.

I'm going to be completely honest, I really hated the movie at first. Scarlett Just seemed to whine so much and it drove me crazy. I've always grown up believing that you make the most of what you have, and she just wasn't fitting the bill of the perfect heroine. She just seemed to lack so much in her character, she had no depth. Then the war started and things began to look more interesting... Until she went and married Charles all because she wanted to make Ashley jealous. When she did this, it felt like my distaste for her would never end. I would have never believed I would be loving her character by the end of the movie.When her first husband died and she was forced to wear mourning clothes at the party, I couldn't help but be astonished at her behavior. Some poor man had just died, her husband no less. Even if she did not love him, she should have at least felt some remorse. Then Rhett Butler entered the ball. This was the turninig point for my view on the movie. I wasn't able to stop myself from thinking "This is it, Scarlett. This is your chance for happiness." And for a moment, when she went to dance with the man, I thought she had. But then she just ran right back to Ashley, even though the man was already married.Jumping ahead to when she was a nurse in Atlanta, it is my belief that this is where her character development truly started to progress. I may sound like a total monster, but the scene when she is running through the streets surrounded by wounded and dying soldiers may very well be my favorite. She was driven to run through such a horrible scene to help Melanie, the wife of the man she loved, to get a doctor as the woman was about to give birth. Scarlett had a huge grudge against Melanie, but because of the promise she made to Ashley, she protected her to the best of her abilities.Much later in the movie, after she had married Rhett Butler and after her daughter had died, the most inspiring moment of the movie came. The death of Melanie seemed to fuel the final change in Scarlett's character. Though it helped puth the final crack in Rhett and Scarlett's relationship as she hugged Ashley in front of her then husband for comfort, it led to many important revelations. First, that Ashley never really loved Scarlett. This in turn caused Scarlett to realise she was not upset by this, for she thought she loved him but she did not. In reality, she had loved Rhett for quite some time.When Scarlett returns home and he leaves her, speaking the famous phrase "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," she is heartbroken. But she then remembers Tara, and swears that she will return to her home and find a way to get him back.In conclusion, I must say that Scarlett really surprised me. She seemed so annoyingly shallow in the beginning, but as the story progressed and the plot got deeper, so did she. Her character development was truly remarkable. And without Vivien Leigh as the actress, this may not have been possible, her skill at being able to completely become another person is one of the key factors in this films success.Of course who could forget the incredible casting, cinematography, and directing. For a movie from the 1930's, it seemed well ahead of its time. The fact that the movie is still so loved to this very day is proof of that.

At last l surrender for this classic,when l saw it for first time in 1983 in my teenage years l found just a good movie,sometimes long and boring,l had a second chance to watch it which l did in 90',in that time it seems me a little better,but now on a Blu-ray experience l finally understood how this picture is a real classic,the civil war works as backdrop to this strong drama before and after the war,Vivien Leigh and Gable in your best definitive moment,worth to remenber the stunning performance by Hattie McDaniel who won the first Oscar by colored people!!Resume:First watch: 1983 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-Blu-ray / Rating: 10