Birth of controversy

Rating: 5/10 (17 April 2020)

Saw 'The Birth of a Nation' for quite a few reasons. One was that it was directed by DW Griffith, the more that has been seen of his recently he and his work became more interesting. He made a lot of very good to classic films, short and feature. Lillian Gish was one of the greatest silent film actresses, who never failed to move me, and there was a reason as to why she was a Griffith regular. Also wanted to see what caused so much controversy and still does was as bad as all that.
After seeing it, 'The Birth of a Nation' is pretty difficult to rate and review with me being so conflicted on it. While appreciating that 'The Birth of Nation' was/is ground-breaking and that it is of historical importance, the second part really ruins the promise that the first half showed so it was very difficult for me to get much out of it. It is very easy to see why the film is so controversial and why it is considered offensive. While it is one of Griffith's most historically interesting films, it is also his most divisive by far and one of his worst in my view.
'The Birth of a Nation' still looks great, Griffith's films always were extremely well made technically, some of the camera shots innovative and unlike what was seen before at the time. Gish is typically wonderful, the poignancy brought to her relatable role being quite powerful. The rest of the cast are also on fine form, especially Mae Marsh and Robert Harron.
Griffith's direction is masterful and technically more than efficient, well certainly in the first part and keeps the second from being unwatchable (along with the acting). The first part of 'The Birth of a Nation' is absolutely brilliant, very compelling and epic as well as moving.
Which is why it is so regrettable that the second part feels like a different film and difficult to sit through. It is with the rescue and from that point on that 'The Birth of a Nation' falls downhill badly, despite the production values and acting still being so top notch. It is not just one-sided, but it is also blatantly racially offensive now and even for the time, which has always been the biggest criticism directed towards the film. It takes a lot for me to be offended by a film but even when judging it for the time and accepting that racism is far from gone today, that didn't stop me from feeling uncomfortable with the portrayals of the supporting characters in the second part (African Americans portrayed negatively and a notorious group in history treated as heroes). It may be based on objectionable source material, but this was a rare example of a film that would have been much better straying away from it and not true to it.
All that being said, that is sadly not all with 'The Birth of a Nation's' criticisms with the second part. Its pacing is very pedestrian and from the rescue onwards the story is badly over-stretched even for a film intended to be epic. What started off so rivetingly became a test for endurance where the eventually excessive length was felt. The characters completely lose their dimension and go from complex to one-dimensional stereotypes and the melodrama gets very over the top and downright silly.
Overall, brilliant first part but the second is a mess. 5/10