The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation is an American film classified as a silent epic drama which was released on February 8, 1915. The film was co-produced by Lillian Gish who is the lead cast in the film and D.W. Griffith (Dixon, & Wintz, 2015, p 6). It is plotted as part history and part fiction, with the story revolving around the assassination of the Abraham Lincoln and an existing relationship between two families during the American Civil war as well as the Reconstruction period. The film also known as ‘’The Clansman’’ which is also the name of the novel from which it is based, was the first blockbuster Hollywood hit (Dixon,& Wintz,2015, p 21). It was also the longest film since it was a three hours movie which held the record of being the most profitable at the time. Besides, it was also the most artistically advanced film then.
Throughout the entire movie, African Americans have been portrayed as brutal, lazy, degenerated morally and also dangerous. To this date, it is has earned the title of the most controversial movie ever made in the history of the United States. Due to how immoral African Americas have been portrayed in the film, it brings out the picture of how heroic Ku Klux Klan was which the opposite of how history depicts the Klan is. The film sparked anger among the black communities, with some cities erupting into chaos.
One of the most significant political, and social effects of the film was the rise of the Ku Klux Klan which had been inactive since the trials of 1872 leading to suppression of the African Americans throughout the country (Dixon, Griffith, & Rio,1992,p 90). Abraham Lincoln is well known for his fight for equality and after his death which led to civil war in America is what the film focuses on. The film brought about sharp differences between the white and the African Americans escalating into a war. Despite the then-president Wilson embracing it to the extent that it was played in the White House, civil rights organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People tried to fight for the film to be banned to no avail (Dixon, Griffith, & Rio,1992,p 99). Sharp divisions also emerged between the republicans and the democrats.
Griffith paints the Reconstruction period which was after the Civil war, as the time when the vengeful former slaves, opportunistic white scalawags who were southern whites supporting the republican party, corrupt Yankee carpetbaggers plundered and oppressed confederacy. They did so until things changed due to the rising of the Southerners who are said to be respectable hence illuminating the Racial theme (Griffiths, & Woods, 1915, p 27). Since the film covers the wartime and also post-war periods, the warfare theme is also very vivid in the movie. Power is also a strong theme in the movie, especially how Griffith criticizes the North overexploiting its dominance over the South.
One of the most unforgettable factors is how Griffith was able to use countless film techniques. These techniques had never been used before such as shooting in a movie which he did secretly and which have become a central art of moviemaking in the modern film industry (Dixon, Griffith, & Rio, 1992, p105). Some of the fascinating cinematic techniques used in the film include a close-up, the moving camera shot, the scenic long shot and also the fade-in and fade-out which have also become a huge and essential part of making the modern films. He also introduced flashback and parallel editing, which is the art of intermixing two or more separate scenes t give an impression that there is a simultaneous happening of two different actions. The film is said to be a significant landmark in the film industry. It is said to have secured both the future of the reception of cinema as a serious medium as well as the feature-length films.
In conclusion, moviemaking was a young art back then, and Griffith using the film is said to have revolutionized the industry setting a path to what it is today. He also introduced the factor of massive spending in production to ensure that the end product is a blockbuster having spent an enormous budget of $110,000. This set a precedent since we have the industry spending as much as a $378 million for a single film.