Film Fanatic Friday: Gone with the Wind

I don't know if many of you have heard of it but, for the past year or so, the movie theater company Cinemark has been doing this seasonal special which they've dubbed the "Classic Movie Series." The premise is that they run a series of about 5 to 7 films, all considered classics, playing a different one every week until they've gone through their selected film list. I think the best part of it all is that the films are completely remastered. Not remastered in the way Disney remastered and inadvertently ended up bastardizing it's Blu-ray version of "Sleeping Beauty" (quick sidebar: I only know it's ruined because they were playing it in the Disney store at the mall a few years ago and the voices were completely different and it just looked WAY different; Now, back to the story), but remastered in the sense that they've restored the film to the glory of from when it was first released and it's clearer and the sound is immaculate.

Doesn't make any sense? Well, for example, during the summer the series during that time included the films: A Clockwork Orange, Cabaret, North by Northwest, Citizen Kane and Cool Hand Luke -- which I'm bummed I wasn't able to make -- amongst others. Now, this isn't the same as Fathom's "One Night Only" movie classic events, but something special the theater chain has decided to do and I find it an amazing idea! To go off topic for a little bit in relation to Fathom's movie classic events: My fiancé and I went to their 70th anniversary special screening of "Casablanca" -- a film that I'd always wanted to see but would always find it halfway through on the channel TCM (Turner Classic Movies). When I saw that they were advertising this in the theaters I told my other half that we had to go and I was surprised how on board he was with the idea. I should mention that we're both big movie buff and it's his goal in life to see as many film as he can on AFI's List of "100 Greatest Movies" List. I'm not as in a rush and that's mainly due to the fact that I've seen nearly half of the films on the list, which is about 12 more films that he has -- and Casablanca happens to be #3 on that list so he wasn't about to miss the opportunity to see it. Long story, we both loved it, it was unexpectedly funny, dramatic in all the right ways and just a wonderful testament to the brilliant film making of the past. Back to the film at hand...

Seeing Casablanca in theaters this past Spring is what made me yearn to go see "Gone With the Wind" when I saw that they were going to be playing in theaters for the classic series, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to go see this film that I quite thoroughly love but at the same time I don't and that's due to the film's main character, the infamous Scarlett O'Hara, not to mention that the film has a running time of nearly FOUR hours. While fiancé ended up not going due to attending a baseball playoff game, I went with one of my best friends and we had ourselves a little date night (as we often did in college).After buying our tickets, and finding our interpretation of the best seats in the huge theater, we sat back to enjoy a timeless classic.

Four hours later, I'd seriously just had my  mind blown. Seeing the film on the big screen was such an amazing experience. Like I told my mom the next day, seeing the movie every time after that night is going to be a such letdown. I think what I enjoyed the most was the viewing experience. They didn't skimp out on making sure we got to see it the way it was intended to be viewed. The opening overture, the intermission music and at the very end more music (kinda makes you wonder if all movies had opening overtures and closing numbers back in the day). It didn't seem like we sat there in the theater for four hours watching it.

One of the main differences this time is that I didn't utterly and completely hate Scarlet O'Hara at the end of it all. This go around, I finally put my psychology degree to work on the film without trying to. I kinda had some sympathy for her during this viewing. Every other time I couldn't understand why she was so selfish and  a raving bitch, but this time I felt no such hatred for her. I came to understand that she was so driven to be the best of the best mainly for the fact that she and her family really hit rock bottom during the Civil War and she was only trying to restore them to their pre-war glory and lead the very privileged life she once lead. I know a main focal point of the film is her obsession with Ashley Wilkes, after this viewing I felt some of outcome of the film's end wasn't entirely all of Scarlett's doing. She held onto Ashley (a reminder of all the good her life was before the Civil War) and he also lead her on heavily; he went on and on about being bound to his wife, Melanie. I think after many years of nothing but neutrality towards him, I like him a little bit less now. Rhett, I think his character only gets better and better for me every time. His passion for life always shines through, and each and every time I watch the movie  I only notice more how much he loves Scarlett and only wants her to say so. I think what breaks my heart every time is that the scene where Rhett returns from Paris with Bonnie and how you see how happy Scarlett is to have the both back but since he comes off a bit indifferent she doesn't say anything. So many missed opportunities there.

In the end, this movie is definitely one of my favorites and it'll probably be another three years or so until I see again (I mean, it is a 4 hour long movie which requires a whole day off to watch it comfortably).

Here's the trailer for any of you weirdos out there who have NEVER seen it.