Revolutionary, yet a difficult epic

Rating: 8/10 (10 April 2008)

D.W Griffith was the cinema's first true master. Audiences today may find his films trite, moralistic and (in this case) racist, but he is an undisputed king of film-making. THE BIRTH OF A NATION is Griffith's landmark Civil-War epic, over three hours long and packing in lot of story and technique. Yes, the subject matter (the Civil War told from a racially charged, anti-Abolitionist view) is difficult and quite disturbing, but it's still a very important film.
Griffith must be commended for his epic vision- the scope of the film is breath-taking. He also was the first to use massive sets and location shooting extensively. Griffith crafted many of cinema's most basic techniques- cross-cutting, juxtaposing and layering different story lines, close-ups (though Lillian Gish also had something to do with that!) and, really, the dramatic structure that is so unique to film. We should be able to look past the unpleasant story (a Southern and Northern families lives and fortunes interlink and contrast before, during and after the Civil War, culminating in the formation of the "heroic" Ku Klux Klan), and appreciate the significance of Griffith's film-making. The acting, from an ensemble cast, is also quite good, especially Lillian Gish.