Birth of the Nation (1915)

Re-visited old movie from my collection,famous (or should I better describe it as notorious) "Birth of The Nation" by D.W.Griffith recently and enjoyed it very much for what it is,in fact noticed many things I haven not seen the first time around.

Compared to other movies made around the same time,this one comes as spectacular extravaganza - where others used static camera and few actors,here we have thousands of extras,battlefields, smokes,Atlanta burning,wars,dances,historical costumes and whatnot - some scenes are even presented as "historical facsimile" where newspapers (or photo) illustrations are re-acted close to originals. Imagine "Gone with the Wind" filmed in 1915. and you get idea,it is very much vision of someone with grandiose dreams and passion,no doubt very talented film-maker.

So far,so good - the first part of the movie is about two families (North and South) and the ways civil war interrupted their lives. In fact,story was so good that I did not even paid attention to racism (though it is the very first scene of the movie,stating "The bringing of the African to America planted the first seed of disunion") but second part of the movie,well something went VERY wrong here because black slaves suddenly became baddies and white people were presented as honorable,brave and heroic for wearing white sheets and protecting their womenfolk from predators who have nothing else to do but harass ladies. Its all topsy-turvy and I chuckled a few times watching this nonsense - it is a very long movie but moves along fast without boring parts thanks to non-stop action and somebody is always running,dancing,fighting and killing someone,so finale where group of whites is surrounded with bad black soldiers is actually gripping.Than brave Xu Xlux Klan comes along and saves everybody - I laughed out loud here,sorry Mr.Griffith.

I laugh,but even now,almost a century after this movie is made,there is a heated and passionate discussion about worth of this early film masterpiece and is it really masterpiece or something embarrassing that should be better be erased and forgotten. Many hate it. Others point at the time when it was made. Lillian Gish herself stated it wasn't meant to be racist or anything,her words echoing Griffith's patronizing views or perhaps general views of her generation. I say,people get a grip - this was made in 1915 and you simply can't judge it from today's point of view. Like it or not,at the beginning of last century people had different views and that was reality of the times - you can criticize all you want but it can't be erased and there is no point in pretending it never happened (specially when it comes to one of all-time greatest movie hits of its time). Yes,some criticize Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" for showing blacks living in slums ,Agatha Christie's "Ten little indians" was originally titled "Ten little niggers" (as in nursery rhyme) and list could go on forever.

"Birth of the Nation" was a huge,mega successful hit in it's time and obviously influenced many future film-makers . I say,watch it as a charming silent movie with lot of actors and mass scenes,enjoy it as visual document from the very dawn of the film but ignore "historical facsimiles" and obvious,ham-fisted racism. Myself,I was absolutely fascinated with Griffith's vision and the way everything preceded "Gone with the Wind" some 20+ years. I mean,we are talking about silent movie where thousands or actors are re-acting battlefields and burning of Atlanta,surely it is exciting. It does make me wonder what kind of movie it could have been have Griffith been on blacks side and showed whites as baddies? Probably would have been boycotted and sank without a trace. I think it's a masterpiece.