What more can be said?

Rating: 10/10 (19 February 2008)

This takes place before, during and after the Civil War. Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) sees her family and country torn apart by the war. She's also inexplicably in love with weak-willed Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). However he marries sickingly sweet Melanie (Olivia de Havilland). Scarlett pines after him but she then meets rough tough Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) who wants her.
It's kind of difficult to make any fair critical assessment of the this film. You either love it or hate it. I happen to think this is easily one of the best movies ever made. It does have some minor problems: Howard is way too old to play Ashley (even he said he was all wrong for the part); Scarlett's obsession with Ashley is never really explained; some of the treatment of blacks is pretty racist--especially in the character of Prissy (although Mammy seems more intelligent than anyone else in the film) and the chronology of the Civil War itself is highly suspect. Still all these problems are trivial because the rest of the picture is so great.
It's beautifully shot in rich Technicolor; the score is just simply one of the best ever written; the direction is simply superb (hard to believe that three different directors worked on this); the attention to detail in this film is incredible and despite the almost 4 hour length you're never bored. The acting is great--Leigh (completely covering her accent)understandably won an Academy Award for this; Hattie McDaniel is a tower of strength as Mammy--she was the first black person to ever win an Academy Award; I always thought Gable was too old for his role but he really grows on you; de Havilland does wonders playing an impossibly sweet woman and everyone else is good--right down to the bit parts. Also this movie has some of the most quoted lines in history--"Frankly my dear I don't give a damn"; "I've birthed lots and lots of babies"; "With God as my witness I'll never be hungry again" and of course "after all tomorrow is another day".
Don't let the 220 minute length deter you--this is a true classic. A 10 all the way.