Epic film from the dawn of cinema

Rating: 8/10 (22 September 2007)

The Birth of a Nation is way ahead of its time technologically and structurally, but backwards socially. It tells the story of two different families, the northern Stonemans and the southern Camerons, and their evolution through the civil war (part 1) and the years of discontent that follow (part 2). Although both halves intertwine, the first half is ultimately a meticulous war epic, while the second half is a social investigation into the KKK and black militias.
There was an adaptation period during the first 20-30 minutes where I had to get used to the silent-black-and-white-ninety-year-old technology. But after that, I was absorbed all the way.
The characters were easy to follow, especially throughout the second half. Even without sound, it was easy to tell what was going on because of their precise expressions and movement. Silas Lynch makes an especially interesting "villain". The battle scenes are so ambitious that they are still impressive today. Visually, it looked decades ahead in several parts. The plot has several layers, which makes it complex but at the same time easy to follow. The story is also very unconventional, partly because of its scope.
The main downside of the film is that the technological gap between 1915 and the 21st century may be too large for some audiences to scale, even with the film as good as it is. It requires mental concentration for a period at the start, but then things settle in. Another obvious negative is the backwards social message. Even so, I found that watching the film expanded my horizons in a positive way.
Therefore, this film gets a high recommendation despite its age. It allows one to peer into the far past, where the world was different socially, technologically, and culturally. This is something that is important for everyone to experience, and this film is one of the best ways to do it.