Excellent cinema, in spite of its propaganda

Rating: 10/10 (25 November 2003)

It's hard to be completely objective about this film, but Griffith made a masterpiece for filmmaking. Unfortunately, given his Southern roots, it's expected that he would make a film with such a disturbing message. The truly strange part about this film is that the first half is very much accurate, yet Griffith sees them as a case FOR slavery! Of course, the cruelty that the slaves faced wouldn't be put in the film for obvious reasons.
The film then delves into fiction for the Reconstruction period. The "Making of" documentary even states that much of the scenery for this part of the film is mostly false or overwrought.
And yet I have to give this film a 10. Not because of the content. I'm a diehard liberal, but that doesn't mean I'm going to love every film with Barbara Streisand or Al Franken in it. This film was truly ahead of its time and has even aged well. No wonder it's been a successful KKK recruiting tool.