A classic?????

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 1999)

I recently saw this at Harvard Film Archive with live piano accompanying it. First off, there was a break in the middle (the film IS 3 hours) and I was never bored. But why is this a classic? Just because it's a silent movie that shows the Civil War and its aftermath (it won't make you forget "Gone With the Wind")? It was (sort of) entertaining, but there was nothing great about the picture. The acting was horrible. I realize in silent films actors had to show more emotions on their face, but really--everybody was overdoing it (Gish was the worst by far). And the racial content was repugnent--when I saw it with a full audience there was a lot of shifting in seats, muttered grumbling and a more than a few bursts of sarcastic snickering and groaning. You could FEEL the audience getting upset. I don't care how good people think this film is, the racist content is unbelievable. It shouldn't be banned, but it should be shown for how disgusting and shocking racism can be. Also, if there had been just one more scene of the KKK riding along like the calvary to "save" white people from black, I was going to throw something at the screen. At the end, I was applauding the piano player NOT the movie. As it stands, this could have been an entertaining (not great) movie, but the racism makes it impossible to stomach.