During the American Civil War we follow the life of Scarlett O’Hara who is a manipulated Southern belle. Will she eventually meet her match with the charismatic Rhett Butler?
Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.
Yes, I am really going to start my review with that line. Why not it is the most talked about moment of the whole entire 3 hours and 41 minute running time after all and well it is pretty amazing. Perfect actually, but to totally understand that and for it to have the impact that it does really relies on everything that has happened in the build up. As Rhett has given Scarlett everything and offered her even more than that but she still pines for another man Ashley Wilkes. After numerous viewings of the film I still fail to see what the attraction to Ashley was other than to try and stop Melanie from having him?
Vivien Leigh is incredible as Scarlett, it really does have to be one of the best performances of all time. Yes, I am really throwing that out their, but come on this character in a film in 1939 that had to be totally shocking! It is an epic film from start to finish and it certainly needed performances to go along with that. Leigh delivers as does Clark Gable who has so much charm that it is well pretty unbelievable, he has some fantastic lines and moments on screen. What is not to love about Rhett Butler?
Another performance that must be mentioned comes from Hattie McDaniel who rightly won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her efforts. She offers such an emotional side to the film and you cannot help but love the character. That I guess is a plus of the massive running time that it gives viewers the chance to really get to know the characters and builds them up in a very good manner.
With so many memorable/quotable lines your favorite changes with the scene. Most of them falling to Gable but Leigh certainly does get her fair share of them as well. A pretty well perfect match in all honesty. This has to really be my favorite kind of film a romantic drama that doesn’t really have a happy ending when you look at it.
The film has plenty of references to the war and we are shown many tragedies for the men who were lost and how this impacted on their families. That is also something that Scarlett had to deal with a lot of tragedy, it does get rather difficult to watch as you cannot think what will possibly go wrong for her next. Although you could argue that she is very much her own worst enemy most of the time.
I guess the love story with Rhett helped to show that everyone will be loved at some point no matter how you go on and treat someone. Although it also shows that you can only push it so far and that you must realize before it is too late what you really want from them. I love how dramatic she is well all of the time and let’s face it the last lines really do have to be how you approach a very bad day “after all tomorrow is another day”.