Introduction
Feature fiction films are films that tell fictional stories, events, situations, and characters that may be similar to those existing in the real world, though most of them are imaginary. The fictional nature of narrative films is their peculiar feature because the diegesis (the total world of the story) is imaginary; it includes characters, events, major and minor objects, sounds, and objects. The list of classical Hollywood cinema contains a great number of works of cinematography which can be considered the best examples of feature films. Gone with the Wind (1939) is one of the classical Hollywood movies.
Gone With the Wind
The first issue that should be discussed concerning narrative films is their themes and characters. The themes of Gone with the Wind (1939) are numerous; they cover such aspects of life as love, relationships between opposite sexes and representatives of one sex, war (the beginning with panic, the middle with starvation and other hardships, and ending with the development of the country in another direction), women in society, and other minor themes related to this topic.
The main female character seems to be a protagonist, though her actions are regarded by her friends and family as negative, immoral, and mean. The male characters are minor in comparison with the main one. The theme of feelings is developed through the film as it progresses; all events seem to be only a good setting for the development of this specific theme. The protagonist encounters many obstacles which seem to move her dearest wish away from her. The motivations of the protagonist are social, economic, and emotional; she solves her affairs of the heart throughout the story, while economic wealth is one of her major goals in life, especially after the war.
The form of the narrative film is presented as a structure of hubs and satellites because it has major events (hubs) that contribute to the development of the story and minor ones (satellites) which help to make the transition between the major events smooth and logical. The most obvious hubs are the relationships of the female protagonist with her family, friends, husbands, and people she deals with. Her genuine feelings for Ashley (the male protagonist) being the main theme of the story are opposed to the feelings of Rhett (the male antagonist) for her. The structure includes the period of war which is presented as another obstacle for the female protagonist (Scarlett). The satellites in this story are Scarlett’s marriages which contribute to the overall understanding of the theme of unrequited love.
The time of the movie can be analyzed through an explanation of relations between the story and the plot. While the story presupposes the explicitly presented and implied events, the plot includes events presented explicitly in a certain order and different materials which help to understand the movie and contribute to its effectiveness but are not included in the diegesis.
Sounds and music can be considered non-diegetic materials of Gone with the Wind; they are aimed at developing an appropriate mood of the romance of danger. Non-diegetic materials in combination with implied events create the diegetic world of explicitly presented events and make everything look and sound real enough for readers to become imbued with the events of the movie and its characters. The non-diegetic materials in this movie are sounds and music which help to enhance the effect of romance, danger, and compassion.
The key conflicts of the story are presented throughout the movie: the beginning of the war, events that set Scarlett’s sisters against her (her marriage to Charles Hamilton and then to Frank Kennedy, her intention to make them work at the plantation in the wartime), her daughter’s death, and the rupture with Rhett.
The War Between the States for independence is used as one of the major historic settings in the movie, though other major settings are Tara in rural Georgia (before, during, and after the war) which is the family place of Scarlett, Hamilton home in Atlanta, a lumber mill and a general store of Frank Kennedy. The reversals of the story include the major hubs of the movie, suchlike the second marriage of Scarlett and her daughter’s death; the reversals create an alternative variant of the succession of events and make the observers change their minds about the predictability of the story.
There are several cases of suspense in the story that ends with a surprise; the most obvious cases appear when all ladies are waiting for their men and Melanie is reading aloud, every chapter seems to flare up tension when suddenly Rhett appears and pretends that they all were at the bar (a surprise). The second case of suspense takes place when Scarlett’s daughter is riding a pony and Scarlett recollects who stubborn her father was, the surprise is that Bonny dies in an attempt to jump a little fence like her grandfather.
The events are presented in chronological order without clear flashbacks or foreshadowing. One of the story events is Scarlett’s marriage; as there are three of them, we can consider it a frequent element. The duration of plot events was equal to the duration of the story events presented in the film.
The relationship to classical Hollywood cinema is clear because this movie can be considered one of the most brilliant examples of classical narrative films in the history of American cinematography. The film Gone with the Wind can be attributed to the genre of romantic epics because it is a large-scale movie shot in the historical setting of rural Georgia and Atlanta. The relations between the main character and her family, friends, and husbands are major in the story.
The war and human feelings appear to be the most effective mixture of settings and stories to create a successful movie of the romantic epics genre with a great number of themes and key conflicts. As the story of this movie is based on conflicts and controversies, it is possible to oppose the moments of emotions and feelings to those of war, cruelty, and panic while discussing the major method of the romantic epics.
Conclusion
The movie possesses a number of elements that are important for creating a beautiful movie Gone with the Wind; however, the theme of narrative (the war and love that exist in a perfect tandem) is the most important one. It helps to produce the overall effect of the story. The main characters (ambitious, self-willed, and charismatic) contribute greatly to the overall effect of the movie. The story can be considered successful because the protagonist is a female who acts like a male when the circumstances force her to make decisions on her own.