A passionate and intense journey through the ante and postbellum American South.

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2008)

For a film with such a long running time, Gone With the Wind has a relatively straightforward story. Certainly, it is presented in an epic fashion, complete with intermezzos and sublime landscape shots, but this film is all about intimate interpersonal relationships amidst the tumultuous sociopolitical fallout in the American South in the immediate wake of the Civil War. The film would probably be about three hours shorter if the characters realized that their cultural values were actually restraints on their lives. However, these people's obsession with contemporary mores is all part of the intrigue. The occasionally meandering pace complements these anxieties.
Vivian Leigh aptly carries the film in an Oscar-winning performance as the feisty, brazen, and conniving Scarlett -- such a strong, independent leading lady, who is certainly more representative of the 1930s than the 1860s. If she were played by another actress with less zeal, Scarlett would simply come across as despicably spoiled and shallow. However, Leigh playfully skirts that line, while also providing enough fragility to convey Scarlett's rise and fall. Clark Gable is another remarkable player as the sly, suave, and frequently hilarious Rhett Butler, the one man who ultimately tempers the spitfire Scarlett. Olivia de Havilland delivers a heartwarming (albeit one-dimensional) portrayal of Melanie, who, because of her genuine charity and benevolence, Scarlett has a difficult time loathing for "stealing" her first beloved. Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel -- as talented as she is pioneering -- is a revelation here as the pragmatic yet caring Mammy. And Butterfly McQueen (one of my personal heroes) is an oxymoronic combination of adorable and annoying as the screechy young servant Prissy -- I wonder if Rae Dawn Chong modeled her performance as Squeak in The Color Purple after McQueen here.
The technical aspects of Gone With the Wind are, perhaps, more remarkable than anything else. The film's art direction, lighting, color, sound, and cinematography are on par with, and even exceed, some of the work you find in productions today. There are many memorable images in this film. A few of note: the swooping, surrealistic landscape of Tara and her grounds; Scarlett dancing and merrymaking in her black garb of mourning; the young band member playing the piccolo while tears stream down his face; and the parade of fieldworkers bellowing their haunting Negro spiritual through the streets of crumbling Atlanta.
A landmark cinematic achievement in every sense of the word, Gone With the Wind, as its title and textual narrative allude to, beautifully captures and preserves an era that is gone but not forgotten.