Dw Griffith’s landmark film was one of the most influential in early cinema, but as well as sophisticated cinematic techniques it was also drenched in racism. In the week of its centenary screening, Ashley Clark reassesses its standing
Dw Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation – which premiered in New York 100 years ago this week – has a just reputation as one of cinema’s greatest problem pictures. Based on Thomas Dixon’s novel The Clansman, it chronicles the relationship of two families in Civil War- and Reconstruction-era America over several years. It is undeniably a technically astounding achievement: critics have long praised its editing techniques, shot composition and epic sense of scale, while its pioneering aesthetic qualities are taught in schools and universities worldwide.
But – and it is a big but – The Birth of a Nation also happens to be an egregiously racist piece of work. It is the...
Dw Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation – which premiered in New York 100 years ago this week – has a just reputation as one of cinema’s greatest problem pictures. Based on Thomas Dixon’s novel The Clansman, it chronicles the relationship of two families in Civil War- and Reconstruction-era America over several years. It is undeniably a technically astounding achievement: critics have long praised its editing techniques, shot composition and epic sense of scale, while its pioneering aesthetic qualities are taught in schools and universities worldwide.
But – and it is a big but – The Birth of a Nation also happens to be an egregiously racist piece of work. It is the...
- 3/5/2015
- by Ashley Clark
- The Guardian - Film News
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