Gone with the Wind (1939)

Please don't spend money on this.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I went to the house of a friend of my Grandma's and she let me look through her DVD collection-which wasn't that big. One movie she had was Gone With The Wind. My Grandma commented on how I have that, too. "You've got to love Gone With The Wind!" I said. "That's a masterpiece!"I was amazed that I said that, I don't think I had ever used that word for a movie at that moment. But that's true! This movie IS a masterpiece! Few movies are as iconic as this. From lines like "Frankly my dear,I don't give a damn" to iconic scenery-it'd be shocking to know someone who knew nothing of this classic movie. The movie is almost 4 hours long, but every minute is well worth it.(You can skip the credits, and intermission section to speed it up a little.)Can't watch it today? That's alright-tomorrow...is another day!

A manipulative woman and a roguish man conduct a turbulent romance during the American Civil War and Reconstruction periods. I was expecting to go with the wind by the end but unfortunately i went with the boredom that this movie was full on suffering from. Titanic was almost 3 hours long but at least went to a point that reached it's full potentials and this movie did not have that unfortunately. Now as far as acting goes? nothing really amazing to say about that since everyone was just meh and the movie fall flat at the dramatic part as well. (0/10)

Behold one of the greatest if not the greatest movie of all time! Gone with the Wind is the 1939 masterpiece that producer David Selznik and director Victor Fleming brought to life. Selznick was the genius who wanted to combine melodrama with advanced production techniques and that line of thinking gave birth to this film. Everything about this movie is perfect from the lush cinematography to the portrayal of women and people of color to the cultural power this movie has given to the world of cinema. For a movie that was released in December 1939, it by far exceeds the quality of film expected of that time and certainly almost beats every film made today. Without further ado, lets delve right into this masterpiece! This movie is broken into two sections; pre-Civil War and post-Civil War. Scarlett (Vivien Leigh) is a strong-willed woman dealing with the pressures of war. With Atlanta burning and the Union Army advancing, she is put through a lot. However, she has feelings for Ashley (Leslie Howard). But Ashley is set to marry her cousin, Melanie (Olivia de Havilland). Mammy (Hattie McDaniel) warns Scarlett to put her feelings aside as the family celebrates the marriage. There is a new, mysterious man at the party, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) who might be the one to change Scarlett's life. The movie has a lot of interesting themes. One theme is how women is portrayed. Scarlett acts more like a headstrong woman of the 1930's. The appeal of her character is how she individually goes after her own destiny; both economically (planting cotton and owning a lumber business) and sexually (going after the men she chooses). Audiences at the time were fascinated by her character standing up to the male characters, but she had to be punished in the end because they don't simply allow that sort of woman to stay unleashed for so long. That is where the famous phrase spoken by Rhett Butler, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," comes from. Another interesting theme is the portrayal of African Americans. There may be points of racism, but keep in mind that this film was made when there were still Jim Crow segregation laws in the South. The movie does sidestep that plantations came from the era of slavery. More sympathy is given to the calluses on Scarlett's hands as she works. Unlike any film of this time, at least African American characters were given a sense of humanity. Hattie McDaniel as Mammy comes away as the most sensible character in the movie. She has many good lines, and she completely deserved her Oscar win. Hattie happened to be the first African American ever to win an Academy Award. It's no secret that the roles of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler were two of the most coveted roles of the century. Fortunately, both Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh were able to meet or even exceed the sky-high expectations already set for them. This film seemed perfect for the two actors with incredibly big egos. Gable with his party-boy attitude delivered maybe his best performance as an actor and Leigh, the beautiful actress known for her drug abuse really shined as the likable, mesmerizing Scarlett. One of the amazing things about Gone with the Wind is the breathtaking visuals. Many films of the era had a bland look about them, but this is not one of those films. Ernest Haller's cinematography is the best I have ever seen. The film makes great use of showing off its gorgeous landscape. The burning of Atlanta scenes really brought the movie to life as well. The use of color and lighting is phenomenal. Also, the film produced one of the greatest scores of all time. Before the likes of John Williams or James Horner, we had Max Steiner. Listening to the score really brings out the goosebumps. This score is definitely one of my favorite scores. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, Gone with the Wind is a majestic, sweeping epic that details a romance within the backdrop of the Civil War. This movie will make tears fall down your face, will make you laugh, will make you shudder up with tension, and so on. Even though the movie is some four hours long, this movie is the definition of why we go to the movies. It tells a great story, and it tells it well. Along with the Wizard of Oz, 1939 turned out to be a banner year for film. My Grade: A+

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.