Easy to appreciate; hard to sit through.

Rating: Null/10 (19 February 2004)

For the most part, I found D.W. Griffith's THE BIRTH OF A NATION to be an amazing picture. Even by the strict standards of Hollywood epics today, almost everything about this film was truly remarkable-especially when considering all of the technological limitations of the time. It's hard to believe that this was the first feature-length motion picture ever made, because Griffith really has the style down to a tee. It seems like learning how to shoot and edit such a long, well-flowing story would be a skill that would take several films to master, but it looks as if Griffith virtually perfected the craft on his very first try.
Despite BIRTH's long running time, the film rolls swiftly by without missing a beat. The plot was surprisingly complex, beginning with a touching portrait of the friendship of two very different families, and soon branching off into several thematic subplots involving romance, war, despair, bigotry, and honor. Given the intricacy of the story, I was impressed at how clearly and concisely it played out, especially after reminding myself that film has never been used to tell such a grand story before.
All praise aside, however, there were some areas of THE BIRTH OF A NATION that I found to be utterly appalling. Namely, the heroic depiction of the Ku Klux Klan and the portrayal of blacks as vicious, easily led savages made my stomach turn. The disclaimer at the beginning of the picture claims that Griffith's intent was not to be racist, but merely historically accurate. Needless to say, this is wrong on both counts: not only is THE BIRTH OF A NATION a disgustingly and overtly racist picture through and through, but a great deal of the so-called facts regarding the Civil War are either grossly skewed in favor of the Griffith's conservative Southern mentality, or they are just plain made up. Though this movie is most definitely a groundbreaking achievement in film-making, it most certainly isn't a likable one.
To me, watching THE BIRTH OF A NATION was a worthwhile experience for historical purposes, and it really is easy to appreciate the tremendous effort that went into making it. But even so, I found it difficult to actually enjoy such a blatantly racially prejudiced movie.