Hey! What a good movie!

Rating: 9/10 (4 January 2004)

No point in writing a long commentary on a classic. But I just feel compelled to say that I just saw GWTW all the way through for the first time ever and --- even with commercials --- I was really caught up in it and enjoyed it.
It's a remarkably well-constructed movie -- I believe I'm paraphrasing Olivia DeHavilland who noted that "something happens every 3 minutes." It tells a very complicated story very well and keeps your attention.

Also, (and again, I admit it is sinful that I've never seen GWTW or read the book) I was surprised to find that that characters --- especially Scarlett of course --- are not at all as black and white (excusing the sort of racial pun there) as one would think from the way they are used in general cultural discourse. Of course, the depth of the characters is part of what makes this such a fine film.
It's also still a pretty technically good-looking film, especially given that it will be 65 years old this year.
Only bad things: (1) Leslie Howard's English accent and (2) the fact that (at least in this film) Vivien Leigh has very similar eyes to Lucille Ball and sometimes when Scarlett rolls her eyes around I half expect her ask Mammy to see if Mrs. Trumball can babysit little Bonnie and call Ethel into the room so that they can plot their revenge on Rhett and Fred.