Has anyone here seen the movie Birth of a Nation?

[The Sheik]

And if so, could they please tell me what they thought of it?

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. There have been alot of posts asking this question for the past few weeks.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[illini]

3. WHITE POWER!!!!!!!

There really isn't more to say.

[ET Awful]

4. It's a cinematic masterpiece surpassed only by

Triumph of the Will.


/sarcasm off

[tjwmason]

5. I've never come across it

I'm guessing that you aren't recommending it.

Is it some fascist screed?

[ET Awful]

12. Not so much fascist as pure racism, portraying all black people

as evil and the KKK as crusaders for all that is good in the world, etc.

As far as actual filmmaking goes, it was indeed groundbreaking and done quite well, as far as subject matter goes, it's absolutely repulsive.

I haven't seen the entire thing to be honest, just excerpts, all of which were pretty disturbing.

[sundog]

6. racist propaganda

D.W. Griffith is full of shit.

[jonnyblitz]

7. i downloaded it from a torrent site and watched it last week.

It is hailed as a classic DESPITE it's racist theme. Its portrayal of African Americans as sex crazed and lazy and the Klan as the hero's of the day was creepy as hell. this way of thinking was considered OK back then I guess. :puke:

[DrWeird]

8. I haven't seen it, but read on essay on it.

Here's the jist:

The seens with the negative portrayals of african americans are largely taken out of context. The true "bad guy" of the film is the KKK. Audiences like the KKK better though, so a lot of the movie got cut and edited post production to make the KKK look like the good guys. Apparently Griffith was appalled that his masterpeice was so misconstrued. It led him to create the film "Intolerance," supposedly about how love and charity can win over the forces of hatred and intolerance.

Don't know if that's true, or apologism. Like I said, I haven't seen it.

[tjdee]

10. Go here to see a scene by scene description:

What you're saying is correct, but 1)there are no blacks in "Intolerance", and 2)The subject matter itself, along with many, many scenes are blatantly racist regardless of cut and editing.

Here's an excellent summary of the film, with dialogue and e'erything:
http://www.filmsite.org/birt.html

[tjdee]

9. Woodrow Wilson thought it was a great film.

I can't remember the exact quote, but he thought it was *the* American film.

The BEST scene, though, was when they showed the black Republicans in Congress....:eyes:

Man. It was racist drivel, but there was some very good filmy things going on there. Can't remember what, but the film does have some merit unrelated to the completely ridiculous storyline.

I believe the director started United Artists with Mary Pickford (and her hubby whose name I never remember).

[HCeline69]

14. United Artists

Yep. Mary Pickford, her husband Douglas Fairbanks, and some guy named Chaplin who made a few films, from what I hear.

[tjdee]

17. I forgot Charlie!!

Oh Charlie. And he's definitely the best known of the lot!
I can't believe that, geez! :)

Doug Fairbanks, that was the husband.

[DaveinMD]

11. saw it in class in college

its pure racism.

[lancdem]

16. That's where I saw it

It's awful. It was referred to in Ken Burns' documentary on Jack Johnson.

[mitchum]

13. Technically innovative, thematically repugnant...

The reason that I have Griffith's autograph hanging on my wall (two feet from where I sit typing this) is his artistry, not his philosophy. It's also the reason that I have Ezra Pound and T S Eliot on my bookshelves

[Ivan Sputnik]

15. Aesthetically . . .

quite well done and even groundbreaking. So was "Triumph of the Will." Its a racist film, deplorable in many respects, but quite important to the history of cinema. The techniques used in it would be put to better use later on.

[norml]

18. AKA The Klansman. It's got a lot of the same stuff as Gone With The Wind.

I've got both on video.

[gnofg]

19. Lie detector

I would love to see the current republican party and it's dweebs in the media see it and then have them take a lie detector test on it. Bet Hannity(who is a blatant racist) and Rush would"pass"{ with flying colors.

[AlGore-08.com]

20. Not only did I see it, I actually read the novel it's based on

If you study cinema history, you see how it really is ground breaking technically - - but it's story and message are repulsive. Like many others have said, it's like Triumph of the Will in that regard.

I will say, however, that the film is not nearly as repulsive as the novel... Which is quite an accomplishment...