THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) - ♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - D.W. Griffith

Written by - D.W. Griffith, Frank E. Woods (based on the novels The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan and The Leopard's Spot by Thomas F. Dixon Jr.)

Starring - Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall

"Plagued by its unfair reputation as a long, boring and racist film, this D.W. Griffith film is demanding, but still has a place among the American masterpieces and indeed is even rightfully regarded as its first blockbuster. 

The Birth of a Nation is a sympathetic and glorified story of the foundations of the Ku Klux Klan. Despite the monolithic books by Thomas F. Dixon Jr. upon which it is based, its storyline manages to be adapted impressively and touch on many aspects, some of which provide a meaty backdrop to the events, such as the Civil War, the assassination of Lincoln - in a particularly memorable sequence - and the beginnings of the KKK. 

All this is all brought to the screen in a most spectacular and compact way, with an innovative use of cinematography and analogic editing very aware of pace and importance of scenario. This is also probably why the film is so despised. The filmmaker is so skilled at using these groundbreaking techniques in The Birth of a Nation's dramatic context that he is able to manipulate the viewer into siding with the character's intentions, despite them being obviously morally obnoxious and wrong. 

Griffith made a film on racism from a racist point of view, thus already distancing himself from the politically correct boundaries and daringly claiming (or powerfully demanding) that cinema be treated as art and thus be allowed complete freedom of expression; whether it is tasteless and a film of dangerous propaganda, it is completely up to the individual viewer to judge. Its importance and majesty as well as a reputation as one of the first American cinematic masterpieces is simply unquestionable."

Epic, USA