"Gone With The Wind" (1939) by Victor Fleming

I have a very sweet and dear friends here as my neighbours in the countryside, they are a young couple with whom I occasionally enjoy movie nights and most of the time we check out newest releases that don't always live up to the expectations: we loved Spielberg's "Bridge of Spies" but were less excited with his biography "Lincoln" (which turned out so deferential that it ended up simply boring lecture in history) and I wanted to show them another movie that covers subject of American Civil War but far more exciting. I even expected it might be a little too ancient for them and would not have been surprised if they found it too old fashioned and perhaps boring but to my biggest surprise they absolutely loved it and as we divided it in two evenings, they just couldn't wait to see the second part. 

What is it that makes "Gone With The Wind"still compelling and enjoyable watching, decades after its original release? 

It definitely isn't about sharing same perspective as than contemporary audiences - from many points its a old fashioned melodrama bloated into full soap opera with glorification of gallant South, slaves are being slapped, Northerners are destroyers and women are punished for being too confident. I wouldn't be surprised if one day this movie ends up being as highly controversial as "Birth of the Nation" but so far its still respected as one of the landmarks of US cinematography and deservedly so: it is such a sweeping epic, beautifully created, acted and filmed that is almost impossible to resist being drawn into its magic. I have seen it several times trough different decades and must admit that I always enjoyed it immensely, even laughed and reacted exactly like I see it for the first time. 

It was a huge influence on future generations of film makers - to this day we can feel its mark, in every romantic scene with a panoramic view in the background and symphonic music playing as main couple stands in the field, its all GWTW. Even the interplay between two main female characters (one strong and fierce, another meek and nice) is something future movie directors will play to death. The fact that today's characters would perhaps behave differently is not important really - they were product of 1930s and should be taken as such - the movie is grandmother of all cinematic melodramas and its place on the throne is undisputed.