Excellent yet deceiving

Rating: 9/10 (23 February 2012)

IMDb Top 250: 154
Gone with the Wind is intimidating. Not only is it just short of 4 hours long, it is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most important American films ever created. It's a sprawling story of the South during the Civil War, and was crafted during the time when the world would be plunged into war again. So you'd better like it!
Have I mentioned that it isn't at all what I expected? Here I was preparing for a love story set in a difficult time, a match made in heaven torn apart by hell. That's not what played out: most of the morals are stern warnings, and there's very little loving going on. Even the overall plot surprised me, and this is the most important thing one can tell you about the film before you see it: Gone with the Wind is not about Rhett Butler (Clark Gable).
That's right, despite Clark's star billing GWTW is about Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and her life, starting with breezy, flirtatious pre-war days, her forced maturing during the tumultuous events and even more so after the fighting has stopped, and then her return to bliss. She is a fascinating character with a contradictious set of morals and a near perfect performance from Leigh, who can capture all the little facial twitches and all the wide emotional changes that Scarlett goes through. She really captures the complex (but is she really?) character of Ms. O'Hara.
That's not to say Clark isn't a presence, because Rhett Butler is one of film's greatest characters. Rhett visits from Charleston in a flurry of rumors, and immediately votes against the popular opinion about the war. We love him because he speaks his mind and stays cool-headed, mostly. However he does take the backseat to Scarlett, and has very few scenes without her. GWTW is a greater film than It Happened One Night, but I feel Clark had more to work with in that film, and therefore gives a greater performance. What one can draw from this paragraph is that GWTW is about women and the men who chase after them.
It doesn't feel fair having to force the entire support into this little paragraph, but due to size limits I'll have to. Gone with the Wind has a gigantic supporting cast of family members and friends with no weak links, but several very strong ones, like Melanie, Ashley and the award- winning (and deserving) Hattie MacDonald.
So now that the acting has been assessed we can continue on to the rest of the film. If Gone with the Wind is not a romance, then what is it? I like to say it is a period drama with romantic elements, because it looks happy on the outside but has some dark material, like abortion. It's not a good date movie, and not just because of the run time. Some say the ending isn't meant to coerce negative emotions, but it did for me. Don't expect to feel too great after.
I created a sort of 'Civil War' unit of film, and one of which I saw was The Birth of a Nation. While Birth is more blatantly racist than GWTW, there are similarities. Gone with the Wind works around the negative aspects of the slavery issue and leaves out all the actual battle, as well as totally leaving out the assassination of Lincoln. Also there's two things that bug me, neither of which are really spoilers, but skip this part if you don't want to know ANYTHING. First, Ashley wants to marry his cousin, because "they are the same blood and understand each other". Are they the beginning of the 'redneck' culture more terrifyingly seen in films like Deliverance? Rednecks had to come from somewhere in history. This relationship is totally OK with everyone in the film, except for Scarlett. Also, main characters are mildly implied to be in the KKK, which no one has an opinion on. These incidences show that GWTW tries to sugarcoat Southern history. The main conflict here is that the poor Southerners had their peachy way of life uprooted and now can't have their slaves. The portrayal of Southern life is easily the most romantic part of the film.
There's no getting around this: a huge part of the picture's success is that it is in colour. All the way back in 1939, the colour brings forth the beauty of the land, sets, and costumes. It was a worthy endeavour making this in colour: a 4 hour black and white film would be agonizing, especially considering this material. It would be a shame no to get to see the costumes in their true form.
Lastly we'll discuss the thematic value. Most of them revolve around Scarlett, but the point of this film is plot, not morals. The title gives away the first idea communicated. The old carefree south is gone with the wind, quickly uprooted. The film (and book) try to make you feel for these poor Southerners, who I already mentioned were slave owners. There is clearly bias in this film. We also learn that money isn't happiness, a moral taken from The Great Gatsby, and it may be a coincidence but F. Scott Fitzgerald helped write this film. Adding to that, if you are never content you may be left with nothing- all cynical messages. There's just one that Gone with the Wind really pushes, and that is that only your land is constant: that's what Scarlett learns.
It was amazing feat creating this film, which one notable critic claims to be 'a towering landmark of film'. You can't put it any better than that. It's very good, not one of the very best, but should be mandatory viewing for its historical significance and reputation. Just don't expect a politically correct history lesson or a happy ride. 8.7/10