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MguyXXV 
"X marks the spot"
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 Posted - 12/18/2016 : 16:19:58
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I confess: I never watched this film; until two days ago. - FIRST: this film is FOUR FUCKING HOURS LONG (a fact about which I cannot rightly complan, given that the progress bar on screen clearly indicated a 3:52:00 runtime).
- SECOND: my wife has not had sex with me since a day before I decided to watch this, beginning at around 11:45pm or so. Seems that it "woke her up," and I "kept making noise" and "I have to go to work in the morning!" or some such other tommyrot (oooh, see what I did there? I made myself sound all classy!); so Mrs. Mitchell and Mr. Selznick, you've made no friend in my pants. (Aaaaaaaand there goes all that classy.)
Aside from all of that, this is an utterly amazing and sumptuous slice of cinematic and U.S. history. Honestly, I was expecting the fa�ade of a perfect world that provides the underpinnings of so many early twentieth century films, so I truly marveled at the manner in which this film develops the character of Scarlett O'Hara against the backdrop of the antebellum South through to the Reconstruction. For decades I never knew why Rhett Butler exits with what became an ubiquitous retort from my childhood, oblivious to the depth of its reckoning.
Of course, there is the uneven depiction of black slavery, the caricatures of Mammie, Big Sam and the wonderfully insipid Prissy, who serves as possibly an unintentional engine of reckoning herself. But taking on that subject, on top of the wonderful balance and juxtaposition of Scarlett and the U.S. Civil War would have been unlikely in the first place, and a gigantic distraction. Better to have waited until the television miniseries Roots to travel down that cinematic road (epic, even if it was made for television).
There's nothing I can add to the body of critical appreciation and acclaim this film has garnered, so I can say no more than that it was worth seeing, even if at the expense of carnal needs. But maybe I'll get lucky tonight -- starting The Notebook (2004) at around 7:30pm, which I have assiduously resisted for a dozen years; but when you need to pull out the big guns, so to speak, a brotha gotta do what a brotha gotta do. |
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lemmycaution 
"Long mired in film"
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Posted - 12/19/2016 : 15:05:16
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quote:
Originally posted by MguyX
There's nothing I can add to the body of critical appreciation and acclaim this film has garnered, so I can say no more than that it was worth seeing, even if at the expense of carnal needs. But maybe I'll get lucky tonight -- starting The Notebook (2004) at around 7:30pm, which I have assiduously resisted for a dozen years; but when you need to pull out the big guns, so to speak, a brotha gotta do what a brotha gotta do.
Well, "Tomorrow is another day". |
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w22dheartlivie
"Kitty Lover"
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Posted - 03/07/2017 : 00:54:02
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| Glad you enjoyed it. It IS a masterpiece, one that I haven't watched again in too long, though I have seen it many times, including my memorable first time with my beloved mother and aunt Georganna at a special showing at the drive-in in a gentle rain, after which I cried like a baby. On the side, my most valuable autograph and prized possession is that of Hattie McDaniel that I got from a sale of autographs of a Hollywood designer's collection after his death (along with one on a lovely photo of Frances Farmer). All else I can think to say are the first spoken words in it: Quittin' time!! I'll think about it tomorrow. |
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Gone With the Wind (1939)
