GOOD OLD FASHIONED MELODRAMA

Rating: Null/10 (22 August 2000)

When I first settled down to watch this film I was determined not to pity the characters, and to come away from the television mocking the old fashioned acting and the sissy melodrama. however, after three hours of the stuff you kind of get used to it!
The basic story is a very simple one. Scarlett loves Ashley, Ashley doesn't want Scarlett but doesn't let on, so she is left chasing him. She settles for Rhett. Rhett realises he's second best and so leaves Scarlett, just as she realises that Ashley doesn't want her, and it was actually Rhett that she loved all along! In a tear jerking moment we see Rhett slip away from Scarlett as she begs him to stay. And oh yeah, there's a civil war half way through the film in which half the country are killed off and the society of Scarlett and her little 'groupie' comes crashing to the ground. this may seem like a 'beafy' storyline, but for three hours it's a little short. The reason that it is stretched out so long is that the whole thing is seen through the eyes of the self centered, cold blooded, spoilt duaghter of a plantation owner; Scarlett O' Hara, and every single little detail, or misfortune that she encountered is made into a disaster on a global scale! Admittedly she does have some very trying times, but for the majority of the film you just want to slap her and say: 'for god's sake woman! stop being so sulky and childish!' At first the wooden acting is very obvious and make the film comparable to a panto, but by the time Scarlett goes to the twelve oaks barbeque, we forget about the acting. Until the very last speech in which Scarlett exclaims 'tomorrow is another day!' This line is so cheesy that you can't help but cringe at it. Admittedly though it is one of those scenes that sends a chill up your spine. over all I would say to anyone who is thinking of watching the film, to go for it. After all it is supposed to be 'the' film of all time. Its one of those lifetime experience things. you can spend the rest of your life saying; 'yes I have seen gone with the wind.'