Birth of a Nation

Rating: Null/10 (11 May 2010)

Believed to be single most important and key film of all time in American movie history, Birth of a Nation was introduced in 1915. It contained new camera techniques to be utilized in films. It used deep focus, jump cut and close-ups. As a matter of fact, D.W. Griffith, the filmmaker, used close-ups quite a bit in his films. The film also has new innovations and technical effects that are notable, including the color sequence at the end of the film. It uses panning and moving camera shots, high angle shots and outdoor landscapes.
It was a film broken up into two parts, before the Civil War in America and the Reconstruction after the war. It covers themes of the Civil War, Interracial romance (Griffith also used interracial romance as a theme in Broken Blossoms), this time being between blacks and whites, and the creation of the Ku Klux Klan. Relationships are also a theme, that things are done properly, much like one expects in the 'proper South'. Relationships develop in a slow process, such as the one of Ben and Elsie. It takes over a couple years for the two to be together. The film can also be considered racist, as the blacks are portrayed negatively. The men are seen being forceful after white women, and men in the legislature are seen acting less than respectful in a formal meeting.