seen july 8 , 1998 at the crossgates cinema 18 , ( albany , ny ) , theater #7 , at 8 : 15 p . m . with my mom using hoyts cinema cash .
[theater rating : * * * 1/2 : very good sound , picture , and seats]
it’s very rare that any medium of entertainment can give one an authentic , vivid sense of reality and life .
all stories are about select moments of time and places in the characters’ lives , but only the truly great ones are able to define their realities well enough so the audience can experience it just as the characters do .
therefore , ” gone with the wind ” deserves accolades for its ability to tell the epic story it does , in such a crafted , intricate , and entertaining manner .
it’s a crowning achievement , not only in filmmaking , but for storytelling itself .
the film takes place in georgia before , during , and after the civil war .
this plays a major factor in the film’s success .
to use such a historic setting presents many possibilities and problems since no one was alive at the time to verify its accuracy .
it might also seem cliche , boring and other such deterent factors to potential viewers .
can a story set so long ago be relatable now ?
the film confronts all these problems , paradoxically , by not cronfronting them .
it doesn’t simply plug in the ” right thing ” at the ” right time , ” it creates an entire reality where everything makes sense and said concerns are irrelevant .
building a strong foundation is important to all forms of media , without which , what is there to build on ?
we’re given some backstory here and learn a little about our characters , especially our main character , scarlett o’hara ( leigh ) , a beautiful southern belle with a will of steel , a cunning wit , and a tremendous sense of liberty in such an oppressive time .
she knows how her society works , wherein everything she does can and will play a role in the shaping of her life and those around her .
right from the beginning we realize how determined she is to have her way no matter what the consequences may be .
being the most sought-after woman allows her to manipulate men ( and their women ) to ensure she gets her way , whether it be obvious ( i . e .
who will be the one to get her food ) , or subtle ( i . e .
getting married just to spite someone ) .
the man she claims to love is ashley wilkes ( howard ) , a modest gentleman who does not seem to have the same passion for her as she does for him .
he isn’t so arrogant and demanding as scarlett , in fact , he’s engaged to a woman with a personality much more like his .
her name is melanie ( de havilland ) , and she is one of the sweetest , kindest , and most likable characters one will ever see .
she and scarlett become very dear friends , but she never suspects the jealously scarlett has for her , and the love she has for her husband .
her meekness is both her strongest and weakest characteristic – it defines who she is , but doesn’t give her much emotional self-defense .
acting a catalyst to the love triangle , and to the story as a whole is the daper , stong-willed , cunning , cocky southern business and military man captain rhett butler ( gable ) .
he’s quite a character all right – everyone listens to what he has to say even though he’s got a bad reputation .
butler makes no apologies for his vast amount of money nor his behavior .
he tells everyone the much-needed truth in the rigid caste-like society where freewill doesn’t seem to exist , everything is done out of honor and tradition .
for example , in his first appearance butler tells his fellow southerners there’s no way the south could defeat the north if war were to break out .
this angers them , not for his lack of faith , but because he has the gall to say it aloud and boastfully at that .
” do we have ammunition factories ?
do we have food ?
do we have a navy ?
all we have is tobacco . ”
all true statements and yet the south still insists he’s wrong .
butler is a shifty character to be sure , but he takes such pride in his arrogance it’s appealing .
scarlett notices this too when she first sees him , and from the look butler gives her , we know he’s not going to stop until he has her .
but scarlett can’t get past her need for ashley , and during a scene which sets the stage for the grand story , butler learns of this and continues to throw it back at scarlett forever .
and so the story goes on , with scarlett being thrown obstacle after obstacle in her life .
the conflicts she must overcome range from taking care of her entire family to finding a proper husband , especially after she is ” marked ” for life when her first husband dies .
this gives the film many opportunities to bring in more characters into the epic story .
some are vital for only a few scenes , but their true signifcance will endure throughout the film .
in most films only a few characters exist for support in background , but this film is more realistic and believable as it incorporates a supporting cast the size of a small town and everyone has signficance .
even people in the background seem more than just extras wandering the set .
the costuming design is outstanding so that the film makes for a real sense of time and place .
the filmmakers could have easily set more scenes indoors and narrowly focused to avoid having to show the outside , real world , but these types of simple approaches are never taken .
the first half of the film depicts the traumatic experience the south faced at the last days of the civil war .
fleming is able to convey the horror of it all by painting an image of destruction and letting the viewer decide just how bad it is .
one scene has scarlett working as a nurse at a military hospital while we hear a soldier in the background screaming , ” no !
not my leg !
don’t cut off my leg ! ”
another scene shows her simplying trying to cross a street , but as the camera pulls back , we see that her path is blocked by hundreds of wounded soldiers , but it is their moaning that’s more graphic than all the bloody gore could ever be .
as the second half begins , the film concentrates more on scarlett as a completely independent woman who single-handedly takes care of her family and melanie just to spite the tyrany of the north .
she manages to resurrect the family plantation , but all the willpower she has can’t help her when she must pay exuberhant taxes set by the north after the south’s ultimate defeat .
this brings rhett butler back into the picture and thus begins their torrid love- hate relationship .
most of the second half of the film is somehow related to the relationship ( or lack thereof ) between rhett and scarlett .
each uses the other for personal gain , but at the same time they still feel an intimate connection with each other .
scarlett continues to use her manipulative powers over men to get what she wants and because rhett can’t help but want her more every time she tries to one-up him such as marrying another man and taking over his business .
they say opposites attract , but the conflict between rhett and scarlett goes way beyond opposing personalities , it borders on magnetic polarization .
they need each other and know this , yet they never seem truly happy together .
perhaps they mistake love for passion , and the film leaves it up to us to make this call .
both have things the other wants and vice versa , but when they compromise , is it just to get their own way or because they actually care for each other .
love and the perception of love are two completely separate things and throughout the final act of the film , we’re left wondering if rhett and scarlett ever truly loved each other and why .
gable and leigh do have great chemistry , always leaving the viewer wondering which emotions were authentic and which were manufacture .
all ?
none ?
either way is possible and it’s a mystery that cannot be solved even upon repeated viewings .
it’s safe to say most of us won’t live such overly dramatic lives as those in ” gone with the wind , ” but it’s still a masterpiece for its ability to give us a sense that we’ve just experienced a life’s worth of joy and pain .