Intolerance (1916)

directed by: d.w. griffith
list: leonard maltin top 100
genre: history, epic, silent
traces to: gone with the wind, the ten commandments, cleopatra

this film truly defines 'epic,' as well as 'audacious.' in his first attempt to atone for 'birth of a nation,' griffith decided to tell the epic story of man's intolerance throughout the ages. not quite the same thing as tackling racism, but he'll get to that later. the film intercuts 4 stories:

1) ancient babylon - this features a famous epic crane shot with a massive set and thousands of extras. this scene is probably now most recognizable because the hollywood and highland shopping complex was built as a re-creation of this set.

2) the crucifixion of jesus

3) events leading up to the st. bartholomew's day massacre in renaissance france

4) and a modern (modern being 1914) story of a lower class guy wrongly accused of murder and sentenced to hang.

the weaving of 4 story lines is impressive, edited together so that they climax at the same time, making for quite a riveting final act. each section of the film is tinted a different color, as well as each having their own style of inter-title card. while it has a Big Important Message, it is also filled with surprising humor, especially constance talmadge, an expressive character actress who appears in both the french and babylonian stories. she is like betty boop dropped into the set of 'stargate'

the entire film can be viewed on youtube:

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

directed by: d.w. griffith
genre: history, epic, silent
lists: ebert's great movies, maltin top 100, afi top 100, total film most influential
traces to: gone with the wind, avatar

self-righteous, ego-driven, racist spectacle. it's a shame that the first major exploit in cinematic storytelling had to be this utterly distasteful narrative of the country's history - it is however an amazing look into our country's racist past, and the attitudes that persisted among many people for generations beyond the close of the war. the entire film can be viewed on hulu:



griffith would spend the rest of his career atoning for the sins committed here. it's hard to conceive that he could not foresee the outrage that would come from adapting a novel entitled 'the clansmen,' which credits the formation of the ku klux klan with restoring peace to the union after the fall of the south. the klan promoted screenings of the film (which at $2 a ticket was the equivalent of $40) by riding their horses in front of the theaters in full costume. the film is credited with inspiring the 'second era' of the klan.

i was most riveted by the scene at the climax of the first half of the film - depicting the assassination of abraham lincoln.