Gone with the Wind (1939, G)

Director: Victor Fleming

Grade: A

Gone with the Wind is the movie that will always be remembered as the definitive motion picture that captured the Civil War era and its aftermath in highly romantic fashion.  It was also released at a time when Hollywood was at the top of its form, letting loose a vehemence of classic pictures that have strived long enough to remain firmly implanted as cherished films today: Gone with the Wind, the Wizard of Oz, the Maltese Falcon and Casablanca all perfectly fit the bill. 

At over 220 minutes, Gone with the Wind is enormously long, but thoroughly tells an incredible tale.  The story would probably serve better as an extensive glance at the American Civil War and its aftermath, rather than as a romantic adventure.  But the main narrative drive of the film is still the efforts of the principal character, played by Vivien Leigh: Scarlett O’Hara, who is definitely an inimitable type of heroine, to marry the aristocratic and influential Ashley Wilkes.  Just as identifiable is Clark Gable as the dashing Rhett Butler, who spends much of the story trying to win Scarlett’s affection.  He wins her hand in marriage, but not entirely her love (she’s still smitten by the aversive Ashley).  It takes the entire length of the film for Scarlett to finally come to realize that she’s loved Rhett all along, and she’s gone through so many trials to realize this: having taken part in the Civil War by tending to the wounded Confederate soldiers, having shot a Union soldier point blank in the face in self-defense, having married three different men, and having had to suffer the loss of several family members (her cousin Melanie, her father, and her daughter).  Rhett’s had enough though by then: this is evident when he utters the most famous line in movie history, and walks out the door with nothing other than the clothes on his back and a suitcase in hand. 

Many may consider Gone with the Wind to be the most supreme romantic picture of all time, and yet a few others may get frustrated with how stretched it really is.  Let us not forget though that the film tells a story that’s a long story to tell.  If you really do want to see a romantic-epic film that you might stand a chance to get maddened with, I would suggest you watch Doctor Zhivago, but fortunately, the production values, direction, acting and technical aspects kept the film on stronger legs, just not on the unyielding ones that made Gone with the Wind so enduring.

In all regards, incredible storytelling is one of the aspects that contribute to making an incredible film, and Gone with the Wind is a masterful storyteller.  The narrative drive that functions in Gone with the Wind is absolutely fantastic, and there are few other films that have been able to follow in similar suit.  Those that have succeeded are just as incredible as Gone with the Wind: namely the Godfather and Gettysburg.  The reason why Gone with the Wind is so flourishing in the telling of its narrative is because it is entirely complete, never falters by wandering off in another direction, and is so frank in the sequence of events.

Just as successful as the narrative flow are the technical aspects.  Among these technical aspects is the cinematography, which is visually gripping.  Several of the shots are completely stunning, such as where: Scarlett and her father overlook their plantation, Tara, from a hilltop; a lineup of Union cannons as they prepare to bombard Atlanta; Scarlett walking past literally thousands of wounded and dead Confederate soldiers lying on the streets of Atlanta; Rhett gives Scarlett a revolver for protection against a beautiful sunset; and that final shot, at the end, with Scarlett alone watching over her plantation, reminiscent of that first great shot.   Gone with the Wind, probably alongside the Wizard of Oz, was perhaps the most technically impressive motion picture released yet at the time of its release. 

Gone with the Wind is usually classed today as one of those sweeping romantic epic, and even though I fully agree with that statement, it deals with many themes that are typically not to be found in that genre.  One of these themes is indisputably the topic of war.  While there are hardly any actual battle sequences, the war theme is clearly ubiquitous throughout most of the picture.  Watching Gone with the Wind offers a clear view of the South/Confederate opinion of the American Civil War, from the pre-war, to during the war, and all the way to the aftermath of the war.  The film opens barely a few months before the Civil War opens up, and we witness as all the Confederate men zealously ride off to the impending battlegrounds.  Wars always end by Christmas, right?  Everyone is quick to find out that they do not: the tide turns at Gettysburg and a long list of casualties reaches Atlanta soon enough.  But a year later, a Union army is besieging the city (the scenes concerning the siege are the best in the entire film), and a year after that, war’s over.  The South is devastated, razed, beaten.  What survivors there are return dejectedly, limping and bleeding as saliva sags from their mouths for a hope of a drop of water.  The South recovers—in time.  What is crucial here though, is that the story manages to deal with the entire conflict: beginning, during and the aftermath, and the idealistic Confederate views have never been elucidated so clearly.

Gone with the Wind has stood as an overwhelming marvel from 1939 all the way to today.  The piece’s unique style prevails just as much as it’s unwavering narrative achievements.  In effect, Gone with the Wind is a movie of supreme virtuoso, and even though it probably isn’t the number one greatest motion picture ever put to the big screen, it is completely fair to say that it set the ultimate example for the other Hollywood epics that came after it. 

A