«Gone with the wind», and the earth remains

Cinema Wednesdays - Special edition: Love in the movies - Loris S. Musumeci

Adapted from the novel of the same name by Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the wind (Gone with the wind) was a hit when it was released in 1939. Today, it remains one of the greatest films in cinema history. Four glorious hours of epic (and very) feature film, in searing colors, with Max Steiner's grandiose score and dazzling, cult lines, recount the end of a world that, despite everything, leaves an unceasing wind of nostalgia in the American sky.

«The end is coming. The end of the war. And the end of our world.»

A love story, an American story

Tara Estate. In a proud Georgia as Southern as it is Confederate. 1861. We're with Scarlett O'Hara on the eve of Abraham Lincoln's declaration of the bloody American Civil War. Sixteen years old, she dreams of getting married. All the handsome boys from Georgia's good families are courting her. Except one, Ashley Wilkes, who, just as much in love with her as the others, sticks to his promise of marriage to his cousin Melanie Hamilton. But Scarlett, selective, manipulative and capricious, only wants Ashley. The Wilkes family throws a party the next day, to which the O'Haras are obviously invited. It's the perfect opportunity to declare his love for her. He can't resist.

However, he resists the first advances. Especially as he plans to announce his forthcoming marriage to the good and virtuous Melanie at the reception. Before the damage is done, Scarlett lures Ashley into a drawing room where they can finally be alone. She tells him how much she loves him, and he wavers, but holds on to his honor. Rhett Butler, a maverick, dandyish, totally chic belladonna, has heard it all; he gently mocks Scarlett. Humiliated, she declares her hatred for him as if declaring war. He's already fallen for her. They part, her screaming, him laughing.

Ashley will marry Melanie, it's announced in front of everyone. On the evening of the reception, war is declared. Melanie and Ashley bring the wedding forward. Scarlett, crazy with jealousy, seduces Melanie's brother, stupidly proud of him, and they get married too. The men leave for the front. Scarlett is immediately widowed; she doesn't mind, she's only seen her husband twice, and it's Ashley she loves. The war continues and goes from bad to worse for the Southerners. Scarlett joins Melanie, whom she esteems despite jealousy, in Atlanta. Both women hope for only one thing: Ashley's return. When the war is over, it's misery and submission for the defeated South. Famine.

Scarlett, with the strongest character of all, takes over the family reins. In debt, she returns to that vulgar Rhett Butler, whom she had rebuffed every time she approached the salon during the war. She never forgot that he had helped her flee Atlanta just before the end of the war. By marrying him, she'll become rich and finally satisfy this poor man's heart. But Scarlett's heart is still set on Ashley, or so she thinks. Rhett's jealousy is over. So much so that he no longer sees Scarlett's expressions of affection. It's a love tragedy waiting to explode.

«Our life has been one cruel misunderstanding.»

Political warfare and the war of hearts

Gone with the wind tells the story of two wars: the American Civil War and the war of misunderstood hearts. In the end, these two wars become one in the film. So much do they influence the narrative of one and the other respectively. Ultimately, the accumulation of misunderstandings in love can be compared to war at its most absurd. «At the end of a war, you don't really know what you fought for.»

Divided into four periods, in four shades of color, the film is really all about these two wars. But it speaks of them from every angle. In this way, the film is an epic and a cultural foundation for the history of the United States of America. The first period, with its clear blue skies and verdant lands, tells the story of an American dream: the prosperity of migrants arriving in generous lands.

The second period is dominated by the bright red of fire, blood and war. It exposes the misery of women and children who see everything burn before their eyes, while men gradually make them all widows or orphans. This is the film's most brilliant period for photography. The red sky reflected in its equally red earth reflects not just misery and self-pity, but the will to fight, and to pull through at all costs. A tribute to the strength of the pioneers who made America, at least for a few decades, a painful paradise, but a paradise nonetheless.

Then there's the post-war period, in which the red of the desire to resist fades. It's dominated by a dry, bloody brown. Strength doesn't exclude the pain of standing up. And still in this third period, it's back to light tones. Wealth for Scarlett, who married Rhett. Tara's estate is going strong. The couple moves with part of the family to Atlanta to expand their business.

And that's the fourth period, rumbling in the dark. The instability of love in turn creates unbearable misery. Scarlett can't see that she loves Rhett. Rhett can't see that he loves Scarlett. Greek tragedy becomes American tragedy, and universal tragedy. Passion is a bad advisor. It confuses everyone. It kills, in a different way than the viewer would expect, but in a far more realistic way. When the hope of success finally dies down, it's red that returns for the last scene. The red of the sky, always reflected in the earth. The earth, the only accuracy. The only certainty. The only companion. The earth that remains after wars. With each new civilization, which will in turn be blown away by the wind.

«All this exists now only in dreams. The wind has blown this civilization away.»

Write to the author: loris.musumeci@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Warner Bros