Hard to Watch

Rating: 4/10 (22 September 2010)

This film is hard to watch for many reasons. First, it is a 3 hour silent film. That alone is a feat for some. Also, the content is very distasteful to modern audiences. The film is about the founding of the KKK and it endorses every terrible stereotype and racist attitude you can think of about black people in the south. And the white northerners are certainly portrayed in a bad light as well. Its as if this film was made during Reconstruction and just released in 1915.
On the other hand, this is an important thing to see for those who are lovers of film history. To my knowledge, it is the first feature film and it is certainly interesting to see these racial attitudes so blatantly displayed in a mainstream film. But it is certainly not for the casual viewer. I love movies and history and I could not watch this all at once. A 3 hour silent film, especially with this content, was just took much at once but I think it is something every film lover should see at least once if for no other reason than to understand the history of film.