Review of Gone with the Wind (1939) by Filipeneto — 23 Feb 2018

This film is probably one of the most remarkable in the history of cinema. A film that immortalized the actors who gave life to it and which is already part of the memory of several generations. It won eight Oscars (Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography Color, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Leading Actress, Best Supporting Actress - for the first time given to a black actress - and even two special statuettes for RD Musgrave and William Cameron Menzies, for technical achievements) and was nominated for five more. Directed by Victor Fleming and produced by David O. Selznick, this film has a screenplay by Sidney Howard, based on a novel by Margaret Mitchell. The cast is headed by Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.

The story of this film is well known, so its difficult to spoil it. Scarlett is a rich, spoiled and capricious girl who likes parties and flirtations but loves Ashley Wilkes, engaged to her cousin Melanie, which awakens in her enormous jealousy. The hardness of the American Civil War destroys the world in which they live and forces the two cousins ​​to help each other to survive, achieving that with the help of Rhett Butler, an industrial bachelor with very bad reputation that falls in love with Scarlett. Following are the efforts to rebuild everything that the winds of war destroyed.

Vivien Leigh became, thanks to this, a film legend. Far from being a damsel in distress, her character solves the problems faced thanks to her tenacity and willpower. Its undoubtedly one of the strongest female characters of classical cinema, and makes a perfect match with the bluntness of truculent Captain Butler, played by Gable, one of the biggest heartthrobs that cinema known, famous for the many romances that he lived with most beautiful actresses in Hollywood. In fact, when this film was being shot, the most malicious voices wove several conjectures as to a probable passion between them, but the truth was more funny: the two actors didn't like each other and Leigh even criticized Gable because of his bad breath. And although Gable have hated this movie, the truth is that he has become immortal thanks to it. Olivia de Havilland, another great actress, shone in the role of sweet and kindhearted Melanie, and Leslie Howard did great success as Ashley. Try to analyze the technical aspects of this film is very impressive and shows us the artwork that it is. Hundreds of participants, thousands of horses, costumes designed to recreate the look of the historical clothing. The country scenes are fabulous and some of the war scenes are deeply moving, like the scenes where Scarlett help in the military hospital or the famous Scarlett's oath scene. One of the most famous sequences is the fire of the military barracks, where real fire was used, making the scene more realistic and truly anthological. Bright colors make the movie even more beautiful, from a visual point of view, and the soundtrack, of Max Steiner's authorship, is exceptional. The main theme is easily in the ear, having become one of the most famous songs of the cinema.

For all these reasons, this movie immediately gained a huge popularity and is, today, one of the most profitable and popular films ever. For me, its also the best movie ever, despite the many other great films that followed, through the decades.