Movie Review: Gone With The Wind

So I've tried this whole blog thing once before, but maybe the idea will stick with me for a little while.  I tend to read a lot of books, watch a lot of TV and Movies, and I attempt artsy stuff around the house.  This is all while I'm not going to and from Dr offices and testing.

I've decided that I'm going to hop on here and share with whomever is interested in reading about my thoughts and opinions on things.

Hopefully the blogging idea will stick this time...And get ready to hear my thoughts on Gone With The Wind (the movie) as I dedicated 4+ hours to watching it yesterday.

Gone With The Wind:

Released: January 17th, 1940
Watched: January 5th, 2014
My Rating: 8/10 stars

Starring:
Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland and Leslie Howard

This movie is based on the award winning novel of the same name, written by Margaret Mitchell.

The book itself is mighty hefty. It'll be a long time until I attempt something like that. (I tried Les Miserables which lasted all of fifteen pages before I gave up). With such a long book being translated into the big screen, there are worries that things are lost.  As I have not read the book, the length of the movie itself should attest to the fact that they didn't skip over too much (at least in my opinion, which very well may be completely wrong).

Now this is one of those movies that people say you should watch.  You haven't seen ____?!? GASP!!!  Well, I had not seen this, and decided that it was time.  I knew that the movie was long before I started it, but I didn't realize how long.  I was not sure I would make it through....

Once I started the movie, after the first few minutes I was completely intrigued. I was impressed that it was in color.  Though, not a necessity for me to watch a movie. But the scenes were beautiful, as were the period costumes and furnishings. All in all, it was a beautiful movie.

I had no idea what this movie was about, except for the fact there was a plantation named Tara and a lady named Scarlett O'Hara.  While these two facts are not incorrect, there is much more to this story (which is good, because four hours watching some chick on a farm would get pretty boring).  This is set right around the beginning of the Civil War in the South.  This provides you with an interesting perspective from the point of view of a southerner.  This was back in the times where the woman's life revolved around getting a suitor to propose marriage and begin a family (before the age of 18 if you were lucky!).  You begin the movie focused in on Scarlett (beautiful, spoiled, gets what she wants...), who is adored by all of the men in the county.  The one she loves however, Ashley, is engaged to marry his (first!!!) cousin Melanie - or Melly as she becomes later.  This enrages Scarlett, so she does the first logical thing that comes to her mind - she marries Melly's brother Charles (the next day).  Then all of the men leave for war.  Charles dies leaving Scarlett a not so mournful widow. While mourning, she joins Melly in Atlanta.  Here she runs into Rhett Butler (she had previously met him at the BBQ that she lost Ashley and gained Charles).  He is fascinated with her - which for his own mental health isn't the best decision he has ever made.

Oy - this could be a long post....I'm going to sum this up.  If you want more description let me know, but I don't wanna rewrite the book.  Melly and Scarlett help with the war collecting money and helping the injured.  (Forgot to mention Melly is a saint, an actual saint who believes in good and love and all that saintly stuff) When Ashley visits from war, Melly gets knocked up.  Cut to nine months later, Melly may die in childbirth, so Scarlett has to step up to the plate to deliver the baby since all the doctors are helping the wounded.  At the same time, the Yankees are coming and will destroy anything in their sight.  Rhett comes to save the day and removes the ladies and baby from the house.  Scarlett wants to go to Tara to see her mom.  Rhett professes his love for Scarlett but she refuses. He joins the war, she goes home to a decimated Tara, a dead mom, sick sisters and looney for a father. Scarlett does everything in her ability to make Tara strong again. Rebuild it. Pay the new taxes on it.....Which the only logical fix to this would be to marry your sisters beau to pay it right? TERRIBLE PERSON!!!!

Once her almost brother-in-law 2nd husband dies (defending her honor) she ends up marrying Rhett (he's got ridiculous amounts of money).  They have a kid. Their relationship sucks. Up and down, and up and down. He wants to leave her, but the kid misses her mom. Then one drunken night Rhett takes advantage of her, leading to a pregnancy, and then an accident on the stairs leads to no more baby.  Then the daughter dies jumping with her pony.  I mean, these people are terrible, and terrible things happen to them.  Then Melly gets sick, and as she's dying, Scarlett realizes Ashley has never loved her like he loved Melly. So all of a sudden, Scarlett realizes she truly does love Rhett and that's what she wants.  His response as he is leaving her during her heartfelt profession: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!".  Then he slams the door and leaves.  So she goes back to Tara and claims she will figure out how to get him back.  THE END.

Now, I know I skipped over quite a bit, and you may be lost. If so, watch the movie.  It's long, but very entertaining and dramatic.  And for an older movie, it definitely kept my attention.  I do want to add, that not only did Vivien Leigh win the best actress Oscar for this, but Hattie McDaniel won for supporting actress.  She played Mammy - Scarlett's nurse (she was a slave at the beginning, but became hired help after the Civil War). She was the only person who called Scarlett on her BS. She was refreshing and deserved the Oscar.  And - fun fact - she was the first African American to be nominated and win! And after doing all of my research after watching the movie, I found a great quote by Hattie: "I'd rather play a maid than be one."

So in my opinion, besides what I think is a horrible ending to the movie (seriously, the last five minutes sucked in my opinion), this was a great movie.  Cast was awesome, production was awesome (this was made in the 1930's!!). Story line was filled with twists and turns. I recommend to any fan of period pieces, love stories, or classic lovers.  Any questions or comments - feel free :)