Gone With the Wind is a romantic film with a war epic setting: the American Civil War, (mid 19th century for those not on the know). The main character, played by Vivien Leigh, is Scarlett O'Hara, a spoiled and selfish young lady who has every male character wrapped around her finger. In other words, a complete bitch. And she has a crush on the only man that doesn't want her (surprise), Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). But, oh, surprise again, he doesn't love her back, and instead loves her sister. Clark Gable's character, Rhett Butler, closes up the love triangle as an incredbly charming gentleman who's totally into Scarlett. She's kind of into him, too, so she's torn between the two.
Come on, you know the outcome.
As the film goes on, so does the Civil War, and Scarlett's wealthy plantation is burned down and destroyed, her husband dies in the war, and Rhett goes fight the Yankees. Scarlett, now determined to restore her estate to its former glory, works her ass off and marries a wealthy man, only to control his fortune... I won't keep spoiling the movie, but it's hard to summarize a 4-hour long film. I wouldn't have it any other way, though, since a lot happens in the film.
In the end, it all builds up on Scarlett's character development. Like I said, she is a manipulative bitch, but I still found the character very interesting: despite how much she goes through, how hard her life gets, how many men she ends up with, how many people she has to help... she always cares only for herself. And it works, surprisingly: she would be an incredibly annoying and despicable character if it weren't for her free-spirited nature and her craving for independance. During an era where women were starting to become more independent (the late 30's, not the Civil War!),Vivien Leigh's performance coudln't have been more appealing. And it still is today.
It's ok to embrace with your sluttiness every once in a while. Getting laid with Clark Gable is a great excuse.
And Clark Gable is just perfect on his role. Not only is Rhett incredibly charming and sophisticated, he still has a certain air of witty, sarcastic arrogance. It's impossible not to like him, and steals every scene. The rest of the cast is really good as well. Some characters that stand out are the aforementioned Ashley, Scarlett's sister Melanie and Mammy, the black maid (first black person to win an Oscar, for fuck's sake!).
I always feel like I have to write a "but" paragraph, since I like to clearly point out the pros and cons of every film I watch, but I can't really think of any reasons not to like the film. Aside from the fact that it goes on for too long. And other nitpicks like the female character's ocassionally squeaky voices or the incredibly inaccurate depiction of slavery. I'm no expert in the matter, but come on, wasn't the South in a fucking war to keep abusing them at the time? Why was every character so nice to them?
Don't let that fool you: Gone With the Wind is among the top 5 best films I came across in this list despite its incredibly minor flaws. The character performances and the chemistry between them is perfect, along with the story and dialogue. A definite must-watch classic.
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