Rank on the AFI List: #6WHAT I ALREADY KNEW ABOUT THE MOVIE:
It starred Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, and it was a love story set in the South during the Civil War (Yeah, I really didn't know very much about it).
LET ME EXPLAIN...
Since I was never shown this movie in school growing up, I didn't think I'd ever see it. I mean....it's a "love story", right? And 4 hours long? No thanks. However, watching movies that are considered classics - no matter what genre they belong to - and broadening my horizons are what My Quest is all about. And thanks to said quest, I ended up seeing a really good movie after all.
However, this movie was different than what I was expecting. I don't get when people refer to this movie as "romantic" and a "love story", unless they're referring to a relationship that reflects too many relationships in real life: unhealthy, selfish, and ultimately destructive. My wife and I were both surprised and disappointed that both protagonists in this movie were not very likeable at all.
From an acting standpoint, Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh were both terrific. But from a character standpoint, my favorites by FAR were Mammy (the black servant, played by Hattie McDaniel) and Melanie (who is married to the man Scarlett is in love with). Those two characters were the only encouraging parts in much of the movie.
I also found it VERY interesting and encouraging that Hattie McDaniel - who played Mammy, my favorite character - was the first African American to be nominated for AND WIN an Oscar. I can only imagine what that must have been like to have a black actress honored above white actresses BEFORE the civil rights movement. The fact that that happened in 1939 is both amazing AND really cool.
What makes this a "Top 100" Movie?
It's really easy to see why this movie is considered one of the top 10 movies of all time. The acting was terrific, the story was engaging and was based around one of the most significant times in American history, AND I think this was the first major "epic" movie ever made (there were more than 50 speaking roles and 2,400 extras used in this film). Not surprisingly, it cleaned up at the Oscars that year, winning 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing, and Best Art Direction.
My complaint...
(To start, this observation was actually brought to my attention by my wife, but after she pointed it out, it was pretty blatant throughout the movie.) Aside from Mammy, all the black servants in this movie are portrayed as extremely simple-minded. I wondered if they did this as a way to illustrate the lack of education among black slaves, or were they playing into some sort of stereotype in the 1930s about black people being dumb? Despite which assumption may be correct, this is definitely a complaint because they could have illustrated the lack of education among slaves in a better way.
LET ME SUM UP:
While the love story wasn't exactly what I expected, this was an extremely well done film with wonderful acting and a great screenplay. I enjoyed it quite a bit, even though it's 4 hours long.
MY RATING: 7/10
TOTAL # OF FILMS WATCHED: 52
4 comments:
(Actually, I believe Hattie McDaniel couldn't go to the Premiere, which was in Atlanta, but she did go to the Academy Awards in California.)
Yup--she did go to the Academy Awards. I've seen her acceptance speech, and she is(was) incredibly eloquent. As for the way other African-Americans are portrayed, it's a carryover from the book. The way people of color are portrayed in the book & movie were controversial even at the time--not only are they cast as simple-minded, they are portrayed as being much happier when they have a white person to tell them what to do, as they can't possibly be expected to think for themselves, right? Finally, it took me a long time to get over the fact that Rhett and Scarlet are incredibly unlikable too. . .Then I realized you're not supposed to like them, and that made things a little better. BTW, if Melanie is supposed to be "plain," why the heck did they cast Olivia de Haviland? Come on!
"My wife and I were both surprised and disappointed that both protagonists in this movie were not very likeable at all."
I'm not the only one! I haven't ever been able to get very far into this movie because of them. Now that your review has shown me that there is more to the story than just those two, I may actually stick it out and watch the whole thing. ...maybe... :)
It took me years to get around to watching this movie. I just had no desire to see it because of the portrayal of blacks. That being said, I enjoyed the movie. I didn't dislike Rhett and Scarlett. I thought they were equals in their vanity, but Scarlett was too much a product of her upbringing. It took her way too long to grow up.
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