THE American Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (23 October 2005)

Amazing 1915 film by genius filmmaker D.W. Griffith. The controversy swirling around this film since its debut has unfortunately overshadowed the significance of America's first feature-length film. Even though one of the title cards specifically says the racial attitudes taken in the film are NOT meant to reflect on current current-day audiences because the attitudes reflect historical facts from the 1860s. That said, current audiences should concentrate on the amazing achievement of this film.
Griffith was a master story teller, and Birth of a Nation is a great story, following two families (one Southern and one Northern) as they lurch through the Civil War and the following Reconstruction period. Griffith's other great strength as a filmmaker is that he knows how to use the screen as a canvas. Griffith's scenes are rarely stagnant, a problem with many silent films. It is truly amazing to watch his outdoor scenes because there is so much going on. The main action is in the foreground but there are always other things happening in the background. Griiffith and camera man Billy Bitzer virtually invented modern cinematography with these shots that provided clear focus foregrounds and backgrounds. They also invented the closeup, which other filmmakers of the days assured Griffith would confuse audiences who were used to seeing actors with bodies! Griffith's mania for historical accuracy continues to amaze in this film's battle sequences, set designs, costumes, and most famously in his depiction of Lincoln's assassination. Just amazing. His depiction of the Ku Klux Klan is also historically accurate no matter what our attitudes are today about this group. Films must be judged in their own context and not filtered through our modern sensibilities.
Griffith's stock cast works well here. Lillian Gish at 22 is a beautiful heroine and is wonderful as Elsie. Her forced marriage to Lynch (George Siegmann) provides her with some great dramatic moments. Mae Marsh is a wonder as Flora. As in Intolerance (1916), Marsh proves to be one of the most expressive actors of the silent period. Marsh was 20. It is amazing that they knew HOW to act for the camera when films was still so new. Henry B. Walthall has his one great role as the "Lillte Colonel" and is quite good. Miriam Cooper (also in Intolerance) has a good role as Margaret. Donald Crisp plays U.S. Grant. Future superstar Wallace Reid plays the heroic blacksmith, while the screen's first Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln, plays his assistant. Bessie Love has a few scenes as a besieged Piedmont girl.
Robert Harron and Elmer Clifton (both stars of Intolerance) play southern brothers. Josephine Crowell is the southern mother. Mary Alden is very good as the mulatto mistress. Walter Long is the nasty ex-slave, Gus. Joseph Henabery plays Lincoln. Eugene Palette plays a union soldier, and William Freeman has a great scene as the sentry who so longingly looks at Gish. Violet Wilkey plays Mae Marsh as a child. Future star directors, John Ford and Raoul Walsh (as John Wilkes Booth), also appear.
The Birth of a Nation is a stirring film filled with memorable scenes. Modern audiences have trouble watching the KKK as heroes but it's important to realize the historical accuracy of this film. And as in Intolerance, Griffith makes sure the audience sees his films as warnings against the evils of war. When Birth of a Nation and Intolerance were released, the US was not yet involved in World War I. Griffith's major point in these great films is to show the ugliness and futility of war and to plead for common sense, compassion, and tolerance.
Griffith and The Birth of a Nation basically created the American film industry. This film is still the biggest box office hit of all time when adjusted to modern ticket costs. in her autobiography, "Griffith, the Movies, and Me," Lillian Gish states that this film made so much money it was apparent that filmgoers, even in small towns, went to see it two or three times. The Birth of a Nation is an astounding accomplishment on all levels.
That this film and its director continue to be vilified by critics who can't understand the concept of "historical context" is too bad. The Director's Guild of America removed Griffith's name from its lifetime achievement award in the late 90s. What hypocrisy. When this film is announced on a TV schedule, letters pour in condemning its racism. These idiots have likely never see this film.
History is history and we can't change it by editing out the parts that now embarrass us. Even today we live in a political world that future generations will judge harshly. The same greed and inhumanity that we see in The Birth of a Nation is alive and well in our world or petropolitics and American imperialism.
Bravo to D.W. Griffith: the genius of the American cinema.