Gone With the Wind

"... A Civilization, gone with the wind" -Intro Credits

Gone With the Wind first debuted in 1939, and was a turbulant film for a turbulant time. The films genre's are Romance and Drama, and observe a central theme of the hellish experience that is war, and the aftershocks of experiencing such an event. The Director, Victor Flemming, casted his leading characters with well known actors and actresses of the time, such as Vivien Leigh as the impetuous Scarlett O'Hara, or Clark Gable as the Illustrious Rhett Butler. Mr. Flemmings fictitious account of a war-scarred south was impressive, if not exceptional in execution, but I hardly believe it lives up to it's critically acclaimed title of 'Greatest Movie'. In my personal opinion, it gets 4/5 stars. Now first, the plot.

"... Land is worth Fighting for." -Mr. O'Hara

And so thought the rest of the gentlemen of the South. The movie begins with the maddeningly narcissistic Scarlett O'Hara having a conversation with her positively captivated suitors. This conversation notes the betrothal of Melanie Hamilton and her cousing, Ashley Wilkes, which distresses Scarlet, who has secretly been carrying a torch for Ashley. Now, from a personal viewpoint, I couldn't have been happier with this, because literally the first drama shown in the movie is also the most long lasting one. The entire film, Scarlet was chasing the one thing she couldn't have.


"I swear, I'll never go hungry again!" --Scarlett

Something I liked quite a bit about the movie involves what I mentioned earlier. The movie had several themes that continued through the film. Firstly, a horse on the screen basically meant death to a character, the only question was who. Just as well, Rhett Butler stated that he always was a fan of lost causes, and during the film, he often supports the side that would be considered the underdog, the one least likely to make survive. i personally enjoyed that about his character, because I think it was supposed to relate back to himself. Rhett never had a high opinion of himself, and I think that he was looking for someone else getting redemption, perhaps for hope, that he could perhaps overcome himself and his past.

"...Tomorrow is another day." Scarlett, end of movie.

One thing I had trouble with was Scarlett's inability to get past the first/second level of what would be considered Maslow's Hierarchy. She never allowed herself past safety and physical belongings, which leads us to the message of the movie: war changes people. After seeing how everything she owned could be taken in an instant, she realized how vulnerable she was, and someone with the psychological makeup like Scarlett's would be more affected than any other group, as she is incredibly materialistic. Thus, she never got out of her need for things, even though she had more than enough to get by, and was often given chances at healthy relationships. The one thing I disliked was the repeated representation of the south as a land wronged by the North. No hands were clean by the end of that conflict.

In conclusion, this film performed amiably, and in my book, was definitely worth watching. This movie strikes me as a story everyone should see, but I doubt I would ever see it again. Just not my cup of tea, you know? I must say, though I will not spoil the ending, I enjoyed its premise, how the story isn't really over, we've just watched what was worth watching, and her story will resolve itself in time. It's really different than most endings you see nowadays, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this classic to any aspiring cinema-goer.

Stay savvy my friends,

Erudito


Sources:
http://parentpreviews.com/movie-reviews/gone-with-the-wind/

http://www.gonemovies.com/www/Drama/Drama/GoneMammy1.asp

Citizen Kane

"Just another jigsaw-puzzle piece. A missing piece." --Mr. Thompson, Movie's end

Citizen Kane was released in 1941, directed by Orson Welles, starring Orson Welles, Dorothy Comingore, and Joseph Canton. The premise follows the investigation led by a reporter, Mr. Thompson, in a quest to discover the meaning behind the final words of the late Charlie Kane, multi-millionare, newspaper tycoon. It is a story of how the simple act of loving a child can make all the difference in a child ever finding happiness and love. My personal rating of this film is a 4.5 out of 5 stars. Mind you, 5 doesn't mean, "best movie of all time, entirely in love with it". It simply would mean it passed all criterea on my grading scale without fail, and would imply a well crafted film.


"I don't think there is one word that can describe a man's life." -- Charlie Kane

I found that this film lacked near nothing. Rising action was most ceartainly apparent, beggining with the death of a old, well known businessman, whose last mystery is in the form of a single word; 'Rosebud'. Desperate to make sense of the old mans history, and from it, his final statement, a young reporter begins interviewing the players of Mr. Kane's story, his long estranged friends and ex-wives. This starts the retrospective story off with a childhood give-away, with dear old Mrs. Kane sending off her young boy Charlie. Already, the mystery genre of this film is apparent. Why was he sent away? Was it something he did? His parents couldn't afford him? Abusive father? It's never really even spoken of again. What is known is that this is the young Kane's first step into a future so successful it's almost repugnant.

"The news goes on for twenty-four hours." -- Charlie Kane

The middle of the story is somewhat confusing, as defining it as a rising action could be just as right as a climax. The movie seems to peak at several points, only for new drama to build itself up. the movie intitially builds up to his wife, Emily, and his great enterprise newspaper, the Inquierer, and then he runs for office. It then seems at an end when his relationship with the 'singer', Susan, is discovered. But after the divorce, Kane continues for election, only to fail, and lose his closest friend Jed, who no longer believes in Kane's resolve and ethical standpoint. But then kane moves on to a new marriage! The sequence of rise, climax, rise, climax, finally comes to an end, just before it begins to feel repetitive. Nonetheless, I would like to state my disbelief at the rediculousness of Kane's fall from graces.




However well written, I find such a drop possible. He marries the niece of the president, and is considered by many a possible future candidate. And then someone as cool and calculating as he thinks it a good idea to spend nights with young girl, in secret? He should have known the repurcussions coming for what he did ages before they came. To play the devil's advocate, a repeating theme throughout the film is Kane's search for love, but "on his terms". Perhaps he found Susan so malleable and easy to manipulate that he believed he found a person as easy to control as a dog, and by giving it things and keeping it in company, he would find unconditional attatchment in it. But Jed, Emily, and Susan all saw through the ruse, and found Kane for what he was; a sad little boy who never learned as a child what healthy love was, and his search for intimacy in life was forever deformed by it.



"If I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man" -- Charilie Kane

Tuth is, my only real problem with the movie is the fact that it was so innocuously hinting towards the status quo ante of how wealth sows sadness, and an inability to find what brings real happiness. Maybe it's true maybe not. I don't even mind a story that shows a mans life being destroyed by his wealth. I just don't enjoy them saying that that is the rule, and one means the other. Charlies life was scarred long before he was wealthy, and wealth simply was helpful to his fortold self-destruction. at the end, his yearning for rosebud, it wasn't because he wanted to go to a time when things weren't complicated by money; he wanted to go back to the point where he still had a chance at happiness.




"It isn't enough to tell us about what a man did; You got to tell us who he was." -- Rawlson

The movie wraps up with an ending so simple and mundane, it's symbolical of how mych of a man's life will never be understood by the observer, and you're made to realize all at once how sad an occurance that is. Kane led a life full of ambition, and fell short when he let petty emotions and base desires become more important to him. All things considered, the movie scores well by me, and does make the viewer stop, just for a moment, and wonder how, by not having what you long for, that very thing will affect all actions in life, the idea of attaining it poisoning all other hopes. It's a story that shows what happens when past conflicts aren't left in the past, and the suffering of those who can't move on.


Stay savvy my friends,

Erudito

Sources:
http://www.takegreatpictures.com/photo-tips/tgp-choice/artistic-photography-in-cinema-citizen-kane

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/just_watched_citizen_kane/

http://www.tower.com/citizen-kane-orson-welles-blu-ray/wapi/117360198