Gone With the Wind

At a Glance:
Score 9/10 (10 being the highest)
Genre: Romance
Director: Victor Fleming
Scarlett O’Hara: Vivien Leigh
Ashley Wilkes: Leslie Howard
Rhett Butler: Clark Gable
Melanie Hamilton: Olivia de Havilland

Gone with the Wind tells the story of Scarlett O’Hara, the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner, and her attempts to win the love of Ashley Wilkes during the civil war and reconstruction of the south. All the while Rhett Butler tries to win Scarlett’s love. With all of the love interests you know someone is going to get hurt. I felt that the movie was very good over all, but had some strange quirks. Scarlett was a peculiar character; she continually made life harder for herself because of her love of Ashley, only to realize at the end that she doesn’t love him. This and other minor things took away from the experience of the film.

The worst part was the acting. Don’t get me wrong, it was not atrocious, but you just could not quite connect with the characters because you continuously notice the acting. This could be due to the method of acting in that day and age. Another weak spot is the visuals, excruciatingly obvious when they use a blue screen, which can also be forgiven because of its age. The movie is also very long, almost four hours, so get comfy.

Now, on to its strengths. The story is very well written and the characters are extensively developed. There are also enough plot twists and turns to give you whiplash. The film portrays the Civil War from a different point of view and really opens your eyes to how much the U.S. suffered during the Civil War. Also, there are many famous quotes from this movie that are instantly recognizable. For example: “As God as my witness, I’ll never go hungry again!” and “Quite frankly, I don’t give a damn.”

Even though this film is long and not quite up to today’s visual standards, it is still a classic that should be seen by everyone at least once in their lifetime.