7tavern: The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation

Sound (2)
2.5
Plot (2)
2.7
Cast (2)
2.7
Special Effects (2)
3
Length & Pace (2)
3
Cinematography (2)
3.5

Directors: D.W. Griffith,

Writers: Thomas F. Dixon Jr. (novel), Thomas F. Dixon Jr. (play) ...,

Release:  March 1915 (USA)

Tagline: Mighty Spectacle

Plot: The Civil War divides friends and destroys families, but that's nothing compared to the anarchy in the black-ruled South after the war.

Cast:       Lillian Gish - Elsie Stoneman,   Mae Marsh - Flora Cameron,   Henry B. Walthall - Col. Ben Cameron (as Henry Walthall),   Miriam Cooper - Margaret Cameron,   Mary Alden - Lydia Brown,   Ralph Lewis - Austin Stoneman,   George Siegmann - Silas Lynch (as George Seigmann),   Walter Long - Gus,   Robert Harron - Tod Stoneman,   Wallace Reid - Jeff (blacksmith) (as Wallace Reed),   Joseph Henabery - Abraham Lincoln / 13 other bits (as Jos. Henabery),   Elmer Clifton - Phil Stoneman,   Josephine Crowell - Mrs. Cameron,   Spottiswoode Aitken - Dr. Cameron,   George Beranger - Wade Cameron (as J.A. Beringer)

Runtime: 190 min (16 fps) | USA:125 min (video version) | USA:187 min (DVD) | Argentina:165 min

Country: USA

Company: David W. Griffith Corp.

Links: IMDb Profile

Categories: Drama, Romance, War, Western

Main

Trailer

Squish
Reviews: 740
Points: 0 (Level 1)
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2.5

Birth Of A Nation, The (1915)

Um.. not that I'm any kind of general or anything, but isn't standing there like that in a firefight kind of a stupid thing to do?

Genre: Silent Drama Romance War Western

Starring: Lillian Gish (Intolerance; Broken Blossoms), Henry B. Walthall (London After Midnight)

Directed By: D.W. Griffith (Way Down East; Orphans Of The Storm)

Overview: One of the most controversial films ever made, this is the story of the Civil War, the assassination of Lincoln and especially the 'Reconciliation' (or how the south dealt with being one nation with Negroes as free men). Based on the pro-Ku Klux Klan book The Clansman.

Performance:
The thing I find weird about silent film is all the talking. Don't they know we can't hear them? As for the actual acting, I must say, the silent era has this thing about overhamming it hardcore. I very much enjoyed the role of the 'Little Colonel', who was my favorite, so he bumps it up a notch all by his lonesome.
Rating: 5

Cinematography:
There were some great sets and that epic battle scene was terrific. Vignetting and different tinting played a part in boosting the enjoyment, but I could not get over the fact that often scenes went on and on for no reason, mostly just to watch people talk, and no explanatory dialogue most of the time.
Rating: 6

Script:
The script was next to non-existent. The fact that 80% of the text up on the screen was simply an explanation of the events about to take place ("The sadness of love lost", or "The assassination of Lincoln") did not help to let us truly know what was going on in the heads of the characters. What's worse is that they kept talking!
Rating: 5

Plot:
The whole first half is the onset of the Civil War, and the war itself leading up to the Assassination of President Lincoln. This is really the 'good' part of the movie. The second half of the movie is 'Reconciliation', when the now free Negroes began to be a 'thorn' in the side of whites and the Ku Klux Klan comes and saves the day from the 'power-hungry and harassing' blacks. No it's not convoluted, it's 100% pro-Klan. Hey guess what I think of that? Also, it's just too long. It really could have been cut down for time and interest, easily.
Rating: 4

Mood:
I guess I'll throw in "white folk painted like Negroes" under the negative of this category. It was weird trying to figure out who was black, white or mulatto for the longest time. As for the first half of the movie, with all the costumes and settings and that epic battle scene, that was great. They did some authentic reconstructions of actual places too. That's good. Oh right, down 2 points for the blatant racism.
Rating: 5

There is so, so so much wrong with this picture, this whole moving picture in fact...

Overall Rating: 50% (Give Birth A Wide Berth)

Aftertaste:

190 minutes. It's an epic yes, and it could certainly have been shortened. Honestly though, it's about the early days of America, and there was a lot of history there. Now looking at the whole Reconciliation bit was like watching a whole other movie... A bad 'ought to be burned' movie. Imagine this: In Los Angeles on February 4, 1915, 20 guys on horses in Full KKK Regalia advertising the film. True story. Astounding isn't it? I preferred the 'Making of' more than the actual movie, because it was so historically enlightening. Sixth down from my 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list. Only see this if you need to, like I did.

Recommendations: Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009), Requiem for a Dream, Dawn of the Dead

2010-05-13 04:13:17

malikaziz
Reviews: 47
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2.5

2.8

3.4

4.4

Most Important Black Films – #3 The Birth of a Nation

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/</gip style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"/>/giThere is a little argument over the facts that surround The Birth of a Nation. It was the first ‘blockbuster’ of American cinema; the techniques introduced in this film by D.W. Griffith revolutionized the art of filmmaking. Some of the investors in this picture were Hollywood’s earliest moguls; the profits they earned back from this film, in essence, bankrolled Hollywood.

And then, there’s the racial element. This film was made during the silent era, so with the assistance of placecards used in the film, let’s go through the tale of the tape…

Relevance

“The bringing of the African to America planted the first seed of disunion.”

That, one of the opening cards, sets the tone for the film. The plot, for those unaware, revolves around two white families, one Northern and one Southern, and how the Civil War (and its causes) exposed the dark, ugly side of America (pun completely intended). And what causes might that be? How about the abolitionist movement and slavery, how about that?

Legacy
[quote]

“The inspiration.”
[/quote]

This card was shown after the main character, the Southern gent who is disheartened by the Civil War loss and the corruption of Reconstruction, sees a pair of white kids scare off some pickaninnies (and they are pickaninnies) by wearing a white sheet and acting like ghosts. You can probably take the rest from there.

So many legacies were built off this one film. As said in the intro, it took the art of filmmaking to the next level. The money made from the film financed at least one major Hollywood studio. The black reaction was understandably hostile, the NAACP got the film banned in as many places as they had pull over. Way more important though, Oscar Micheaux was one (of many) filmmakers who decided the best way to counteract the negative portrayal of blacks in this film was for blacks to create their own films. So it’s very easy to argue that Birth of a Nation kickstarted black cinema.

Craft

“You are now the greatest power in America.”

This line, said by the Senator’s mulatto mistress after Lincoln’s assassination, segways back into the story. Why were blacks so offended (if you haven’t seen the movie)? Was it just the Ku Klux Klan? Um, no. There was the mulatto mistress, turned on by the power of the white men she was surrounded by. There’s the great scene where the blacks are at work as Senators for the first time. Among the highlights of this scene, eating chicken while debating a bill, Senators taking their shoes off and putting their bare feet on the desk, the sneaking of whiskey onto the floor, and the one bill they did manage to pass, legalizing interracial marriage (immediately followed by the biggest party ever portrayed on film by a group of Senators). And did I mention that all of the major black roles in this film were (obviously) played by white actors in blackface?

So black people had a few gripes with this film…

Crossover

“The former enemies of North and South are united again in common defence of their Aryan birthright.”

While President Woodrow Wilson would later claim he was ‘misquoted’ in his praise for the film, it is a fact that Birth of a Nation was the first film ever screened at the White House. Also a fact that more blacks were lynched during this period than any other period in history. Birth of a Nation put the Ku Klux Klan in the spotlight, leading to a tremendous spike in their membership. This film, debatably more than any other film in American history, taught all parties involved the immense power of this artform.

Apollo

“See! My people fill the streets. With them I will build a Black Empire and you as a Queen shall sit by my side.”

This line spoken by the villain of the film, the black Senator named (what else?) Lynch to the white heroine probably got more than a few brothers harassed (if not killed) in its day. As absurdly comical as that line is to me personally (I admit in 2009 I laughed out loud when I saw it and immediately memorized it to use when I get engaged), a lot of the gasoline behind the ‘why do black men lust after white women?’ debate can be found in this movie. Both in the main plot and in a subplot, black male characters proposition white women, and when they (of course) get shot down, the ‘brothas’ resort to force (or the threat of force) to get what they want. Thankfully in this day and age nobody’s bothered by a black man dating/marrying a white woman (hyper-sarcasm).

For those interested, Birth of a Nation is public domain, and can be downloaded for free (and legally) from any number of sites online. Required viewing for those interested in the art of film, or black/American history buffs.

Two films to go…