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<blockquote data-quote="Willie Oleson" data-source="post: 415490" data-attributes="member: 8">My to-watch list is empty and I this is a good opportunity to tackle a few mega-popular films I have not seen before.First but not least...GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)[ATTACH=full]55136[/ATTACH]I finished the film exactly one minute before the video rental expired - it was quite nerve-racking - and my first thoughts are a) this film is preposterous and b) why wasn&#039;t it shot in widescreen.I didn&#039;t know anything about the story but I had an idea what it was going to be, but it wasn&#039;t that plantation drama that ended with the war.And the plantation drama I got is probably the weakest part of the film. It looks irritatingly frivolous and musical-esque and I started to regret my ambitious mini-project.There&#039;s a lot of effort to make her look like the &quot;bad girl&quot; while simultaneously signalling a more fierce and feminist tone. In other words it shouldn&#039;t be taken too seriously because &quot;this is going to be our protagonist&quot;.The film never completely loses its light-heartedness but what really surprised me is how seriously unlikeable she became towards the end of the film, those moments that are supposed to be about character redemption.It is exactly like Clark Gable&#039;s last and very iconic line &quot;frankly, my dear, I don&#039;t give a damn&quot;.And this brings me to Melanie who sort of acts like Scarlett&#039;s conscience and has manipulated the viewer from the very beginning that Scarlett&#039;s story deserved to be told, and when she dies that whole reason disappears. But then the film is almost over and it doesn&#039;t matter anymore.Yes, soft-spoken Olivia DeHavilland with her scheming poker face.The film becomes considerably more watchable when the war breaks out, obviously because the melodramatic acting seems more justified in this setting, and also because I hadn&#039;t expected this to happen so early on in the story. I became intrigued to see where the story would take me.The sound is impressive and even startling sometimes.Overall, it&#039;s nicely paced, but seriously, no film deserves to be this long. It completely ignores the standard human attention span. I&#039;ve treated it like the mini-series it really is and watched it three parts (and almost didn&#039;t have enough time to finish it).And so, eventually - blablabla - they end up in the house with THE staircase.[ATTACH=full]55137[/ATTACH]It looks gorgeous but I&#039;d think twice before I&#039;d climb that monster.A little girl dies and you have the perfect set for a haunted house movie.Scarlett as a ruthless business woman and Rhett Butler as the super-wealthy backup man (often a sheik in soap series) pre-echoes the sensibilities of the 1980s new wave feminism.On the surface, Rhett&#039;s dilemma is about being in love with a woman he can&#039;t have, but I also sensed a little inferiority complex because he&#039;s not a true Southerner. It&#039;s almost as if Rhett represents America - &quot;my dollars, my pony, my stained glass&quot; - and the South (or the mystique thereof) represents Europe.And there&#039;s always a hierarchy within a hierarcy as we hear Mammy calling everybody who doesn&#039;t belong to the upper class &quot;white trash&quot;.&nbsp;My favourite character is Prissy, she&#039;s funny and very untrustworthy (I&#039;m not buying the &quot;she&#039;s slow&quot; comment).For the most part I found it very enjoyable trash but I wouldn&#039;t brag about it in front of intellectual people. Reputation is everything.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Willie Oleson, post: 415490, member: 8"] My to-watch list is empty and I this is a good opportunity to tackle a few mega-popular films I have not seen before. First but not least... GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) [ATTACH type="full"]55136[/ATTACH] I finished the film exactly [B]one minute[/B] before the video rental expired - it was quite nerve-racking - and my first thoughts are a) this film is preposterous and b) why wasn't it shot in widescreen. I didn't know anything about the story but I had an idea what it was going to be, but it wasn't that plantation drama that ended with the war. And the plantation drama I got is probably the weakest part of the film. It looks irritatingly frivolous and musical-esque and I started to regret my ambitious mini-project. There's a lot of effort to make her look like the "bad girl" while simultaneously signalling a more fierce and feminist tone. In other words it shouldn't be taken too seriously because "this is going to be our protagonist". The film never completely loses its light-heartedness but what really surprised me is how seriously unlikeable she became towards the end of the film, those moments that are supposed to be about character redemption. It is exactly like Clark Gable's last and very iconic line "frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn". And this brings me to Melanie who sort of acts like Scarlett's conscience and has manipulated the viewer from the very beginning that Scarlett's story deserved to be told, and when she dies that whole reason disappears. But then the film is almost over and it doesn't matter anymore. Yes, soft-spoken Olivia DeHavilland with her scheming poker face. The film becomes considerably more watchable when the war breaks out, obviously because the melodramatic acting seems more justified in this setting, and also because I hadn't expected this to happen so early on in the story. I became intrigued to see where the story would take me. The sound is impressive and even startling sometimes. Overall, it's nicely paced, but seriously, no film deserves to be this long. It completely ignores the standard human attention span. I've treated it like the mini-series it really is and watched it three parts (and almost didn't have enough time to finish it). And so, eventually - blablabla - they end up in the house with THE staircase. [ATTACH type="full"]55137[/ATTACH] It looks gorgeous but I'd think twice before I'd climb that monster. A little girl dies and you have the perfect set for a haunted house movie. Scarlett as a ruthless business woman and Rhett Butler as the super-wealthy backup man (often a sheik in soap series) pre-echoes the sensibilities of the 1980s new wave feminism. On the surface, Rhett's dilemma is about being in love with a woman he can't have, but I also sensed a little inferiority complex because he's not a true Southerner. It's almost as if Rhett represents America - "my dollars, my pony, my stained glass" - and the South (or the mystique thereof) represents Europe. And there's always a hierarchy within a hierarcy as we hear Mammy calling everybody who doesn't belong to the upper class "white trash". My favourite character is Prissy, she's funny and very untrustworthy (I'm not buying the "she's slow" comment). For the most part I found it very enjoyable trash but I wouldn't brag about it in front of intellectual people. Reputation is everything. [/QUOTE]

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