I went back and forth on this a long time. GWTW is one of my favorites and I knew it intimately. I wasn't sure whether it would be too tense for the boys, too racist, too long, too romantic. . . I just wasn't sure. Ultimately, I thought, why not just put it in the player and see.
Specs:
4 hours long. We recommend watching over two nights. There is a perfect stopping point at intermission. Glorious Technicolor
The film is set in the Civil War era.
Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):
8.75, making it our second favorite film in the festival.
More about the film and our reaction to it:
One of my favorite anecdotes to share with people about our film festival has to do with this film. After having watched over 30 years of film and about 40 titles, when we got to Gone With the Wind, we were all astounded by its quality. You just can't realize the full power of a film sometimes if you haven't placed it in the context of what comes before. GWTW is simply an amazing landmark film, so grand in scope and sweep, so extraordinarily beautiful to look at and with such a big story, that we could not help but be very impressed. Had I simply popped this in to the player back in May and asked my family to enjoy it "cold", I doubt whether they would have been able to.
As it is, we loved learning about the Civil War, the genteel South just before war hit, and the protracted period of Reconstruction after it. GWTW allows you to see the toll of war on people in a powerful way. Beloved characters die, people lose their land and struggle simply to eat. Characters make hard choices and undertake ruthless acts that they might not have ever done before the war. Babies are born, people struggle with love, and life goes on. We were all deeply moved by the drama. There is cruelty and kindness in relationships and some pretty tense, grown-up themes. But my kids loved the movie, because it is so brilliantly made.
The film is long, but I can't say that it is "too long", because the pacing is so good and so strong throughout that it ends up feeling just right. We couldn't wait to cue it back up the second night. The Technicolor is beyond breathtaking. This has to be one of the most beautiful films ever made. The costumes and landscapes are rich, but not too jarringly colorful. Scenes are muted, with wonderfully appropriate lighting. The film is stuffed with extras and deep acting as well as richly scored. It has massive spectacle value.
As for parent concerns: there are several scenes of violence - two of the most intense come when a soldier's leg is amputated and when Scarlett shoots a man in the face. There is a fair amount of implied sexuality - and allusions to a woman of ill-fame, though nothing overt is shown. And, there are multiple issues of racism. Obviously, the picture deals with the Civil War, there are issues of class, wealth, snobbery, and ruthlessness. But none of these is necessarily as problematic for family viewing as the problem of unfamiliarity with slower-moving, lushly dramatic story telling. We got a lot of value out of GWTW, but another family without the backdrop of experience with classics might not.
Iconic shot:
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