esrosedotblog

WINDED

"There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind.''

Gone With The Wind (1939).

Today, I watched the first half; up to 'I will never go hungry again'.

I have seen this film at least four times and so it is hard to get any distance. Amazingly, it draws me right in from the very beginning.

The first time I saw it was in a revival when I was 8 or 9. I remember it as rather scary.

Later, when I went to see it, it became a form of 'camp'. We learned the lines and saw through some of the fantasy/camelot stuff.

This time, it seems more genuine somehow. I think it might have to do with the awareness of its sexuality. Leigh and Gable do scorch some of the celluloid. It ends up being about the people and not the events of the time.

Whatever we might think in whatever time we view it, it is certainly a landmark film and while often imitated, it has never been surpassed.

It is almost four hours long. That is a long time to hold an audience, especially me.