The Answer's in "the Wind" (Part One)

So, friend, another day has come and gone, with it's own particular stresses, dangers (snow), and joys (such as everything that happened between 1 and 4 p.m., as well as 7-9 p.m.)

As I related last night, we began our "Classic American Films" course with Vic Fleming's 1939 masterpiece The Wizard of Oz; well, today we viewed Fleming's other masterpiece from the same year, Gone With the Wind.  I owe so much to this film: it's the film that "changed my life," in the sense that I never saw movies the same after GWTW; I loved it so much when I was younger, I was Rhett Butler for Halloween the last year I went trick-o-treating.   Yet, today was the first time in a good, long while I had seen the film (the first half, at least); I would say that it must have been at least since the 2007 DVD release.  Needless to say, this was the first time I had seen GWTW with more a more mature perception on films and film-making. 

The first thing that really surprised me was how quick-paced the film is; for some reason, I remember the film, especially the scenes up to the Atlanta sections, to feel slow.  Now, the whole first half seemed to be very well paced and flowed extremely quickly.

My views on the Vivian Leigh's "Scarlett" and Clark Gable's "Rhett" haven't changed; I've always been enamored with Scarlett, and I've always found the character's vivaciousness and spunk to be admirable qualities in a woman, while I've always wanted to BE Rhett Butler, and Gable still seems to be the perfect choice for Rhett.

However, I must admit, I cringed when Leslie Howard appeared on the screen as "Ashley;" Howard does not feel like a Southern gentleman, yet he is intended to represent the Old South.  While it's true Gable doesn't have that southern drawl (which Leigh perfectly emulated within her performance), Howard doesn't even sound like an American, much less a southerner.  I'll have to reflect on this more, see how his performance in the other half strikes me, but so far, not so good...

The biggest shift in my perception of the film's performances must be in Olivia de  Havilland's "Melanie."  During this viewing, her character felt so warm, so real; I was completely thrown by de Havilland's work here, as it seems so timeless, yet so grounded.  According to the actress, Fleming took her aside at an early scene, reminding de Havilland that "Melanie means everything she says," which the actress credits as the "key" to her performance.  Out of everything in the film, I cannot wait to see de Havilland's performance completed tomorrow afternoon.

Of course, I'm in awe over the extensive use of excellent character actors, all of whom are at the top of their game:  Hattie McDaniel, in her Oscar-winning role as "Mammy," who exudes homespun intelligence and wisdom, Butterfly McQueen as Prissy, Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara, Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade, Jane Darwell, and on and on....each of them brings their own sensibilities to their roles and each brings a certain stability to their parts.

It's getting late, so I'll save my remarks on the crafts for this weekend.  However, tonight, Professor Sragow gave an excellent talk on "What Does a Director Do," using Vic Fleming as his case study.  While the material wasn't too new for me, after reading Professor Sragow's excellent book on Victor Fleming this summer, I did learn some new insights on the role of the director in a film's production, and it was great to see clips from Fleming's films.

Well, good night all!  I'll let you know how the Wind goes tomorrow!


Your Errant Viewer  Pupil

Big News!!!

First off, Happy New Year everyone! Forgive my silence, but I didn't go to the cinemas while in France, so I've missed Zombieland, The Blind Side, and any other film that was released between September and mid-December, up until Avatar (which I might review should anyone request one).

However, here is the biggest news of all:

For the next three weeks, until January 26th, I will be studying "Classic American Films" under Michael Sragow, film critic for The Baltimore Sun and author of Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master, about the director of Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz (both 1939), among many other films. I had a chance to read Sragow's book this summer and was highly impressed with not only the life of this forgotten giant, but with the author's storytelling capabilities. Fleming's life is so overwhelmingly epic, one comes away from the book wondering why, out of the recent spate of the "bio-pic" genre, we haven't seen a Vic Fleming film (Imagine my delight upon discovering part of the class' readings are from his book; a good book is even better a second time through!)

I'll do my best to keep everyone up to date on this course, which began yesterday, the 5th, but allow me first to bring this description up to date. First of all, I am extremely grateful that Michael Sragow is incredibly down-to-earth; he's not a film snob in the slightest, but a man who enjoys a great film. He laughs and smiles very frequently and seems to really enjoy going down this path with us, opening American classics to our dazzled eyes. I haven't detected a bit of bombast or a pompous attitude of any kind, and I fully believe we were highly lucky in snagging Professor Sragow (as I'll refer to him hereafter) for this Centre Term.

Over our break, we were asked to read L. Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which I found quite (and surprisingly) flat; on our first day of class, we were given our syllabus, discussed how film was intended originally as an extroverted, group experience and were expected to be distributed for a brief amount of time (Margaret Hamilton, who plays the Wicked Witch in Oz, balked at the notion the film would be seen in two or three years). We learned about the "Golden Ratio," the size of film screens at the time, which is supposedly the perfect ratio to concentrate one's attention for roughly 90 minutes. Professor Sragow challenged us to not view film as a passive experience, but one of give and take between the final product and the viewer.

We discussed several differences in the book and film versions of Oz, such as the dream structure the farmhands and Professor Marvel, who correspond to figures in Oz, neither of which are found in the book, and theorized on why these changes were made. We finished class by viewing Oz in Valkamp Theater; Professor Sragow offered to discuss the film after it ended with anyone who wished to talk to him. I was the only one to take him up on his offer, and I had one of the most enriching times of my life. I can't recall exactly what was said due to an exhausting couple of days and shaking, quaking nerves, but I did my best to think of questions to ask. The best thing about watching a movie with another film aficionado is the conversation you have after the film's conclusion; one is forced to make conclusions about the film, express them, defend them, and deepen them. Heck, it's just fun to talk about movies with another guy who loves movies (which is why I think it'd be a blast to talk to Quentin Tarantino)!

Today's class (that is, the 6th) was a bit more discussion based, as we reflected on Oz after a fresh viewing and after reading the chapter on the making of the film from Professor Sragow's book; we watched a short documentary on the life of Fleming (who died 61 years ago to the day) and viewed the first hour or so of Walter Mirsch's 1985 sequel Return to Oz (which is tonally a world away from Fleming's film).

Tomorrow (the 7th), we're to have read the Gone With the Wind chapter in Professor Sragow's book, because we are watching the first half of Gone With the Wind, which is a film of extreme personal importance to me. I never truly began to watch movies until I saw this film, and I still date my movie life as "before GWTW" and "after GWTW." While I no longer consider it the best film I've seen, it's still close to my heart. It's sad, though, that we cannot watch the full film at one time, as it was intended, but I still consider myself lucky and blessed to be in this class, where we can watch and discuss great American films.

So, to everyone, good night and sweet dreams

The Errant Viewer