Friday, July 31, 2009

Gone With the Wind













I never watched "Gone With the Wind" when I was growing up. I had a hard enough time sitting through an entire movie back then, much less a 3 hour one. I could never get in to this one and thought it looked boring. After I came home from my mission, I was babysitting for a family in the Ward and the mother told me that Gone with the Wind was her favorite movie. I remember being shocked that it was anyone's favorite, but that's mainly because I had never seen it. A few years ago, our city renovated the "El Campanil" theater down town and began to show classic movies there.



I went to see several of the classics on the big screen there. I saw "To Kill a Mockingbird", and yes, I saw "Gone With the Wind." It was shown in the original format, just as it was shown originally on the big screen. I finally got to see what a great movie it is. The one scene that was most memorable to me is the scene where Scarlett has to walk through a the middle of the town where there is a field of dying and injured men. The camera pans and pulls back, and continues to pull back until you can see that there are thousands of men lying on the ground.















It's such an interesting story that, in my mind revolves around two women; Scarlett and Melanie. Scarlett survives the war, and prospers, but at what cost? I think sometimes I see too much of Scarlett in me, and not enough of Melanie. :) I watched this movie again this week and once again was reminded of what a great movie it is. It's also a great history lesson, but I think it's one that is lost on kids. You really need to be an adult to appreciate this great classic.

4 comments:

Nene said...

Gone With the Wind is one of my favorite books.

Inklings said...

I saw that movie when I was 18, and there was a big thing in the media about it's "revival". So they did a little booklet about it that they sold at the theater, and I still have that. When that movie was first released the whole world was scandalized because Rhett says at the end, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." We've come a long way from that, haven't we? I walked in on someone watching an R-rated movie last week and I was pretty scandalized myself.

Ramana Rajgopaul said...

GWTW has been one of my all time favourites. I have lost count of the number of times that I have seen it. I had blogged about it once and ever since then, one of my regular readers insists on calling me Rhet!

At a much younger age, I used to emulate Clark Gable in the way I walked and smirked and kept a moustache like his in the role of Rhet Butler.

I have read the book too a few times and now that you remind me of it, I think that I shall get a copy and re read it. Thank you for kindling that memory again.

Funnily enough, the word verification today on this comment box is 'torched'!

Amber said...

I've always loved that movie - I love Scarlett, I love that she never gives up - my favorite part in the movie is the one where she vows to never be hungry again, it's cliche but I just love it because she does whatever it takes to take care of her family