A landmark in film narrative and propaganda

Rating: 9/10 (23 September 2004)

President Wilson said it was like "seeing history written in lightning". The impact and importance of this film in cinema history can't really be overstated. It got the upper classes interested in film as an art form. The battle scenes were incredible for the time and are still I believe among the finest of the silent cinema.
There is little doubt that much of the content of second half is horrendously racist and Griffith was such a master story teller it comes across as perfectly believable to unsuspecting audiences. He uses Mae Marsh's delightful gamin performance to reinforce "his" point of view : our sympathy for her sets "us" against the blacks. It makes you feel uneasy watching this now, it still retains a lot of emotional power, very unusual for such an old film. The acting of all is understated particularly Henry B. Walthall as the little colonel giving it more resonance. The fact that Griffith hooked an audience for such a long film was a huge breakthrough in both narrative terms and also in using film for dubious propaganda.