The Birth of a Nation

Starring: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Miriam Cooper, Mary Alden, Ralph Lewis, George Siegmann, Walter Long, Robert Harron, Wallace Reid, Donald Crisp, John Ford (uncredited)
Directed by: D.W. Griffith
Rating: Not Rated
Genre: Drama, War
1915

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Follows the Civil War and its aftermath from two families, one from the north and one from the south.

Review:

Tim: I've been dreading writing this review perhaps more than any movie I've ever written. I'm still not entirely sure what to say about a movie that is at turns brilliant, controversial, and horrible. D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation is a landmark film for a number of reasons. I wasn't able to completely hate the movie, as much as I hated large parts of it. I want to review it fairly, but I also want to condemn it strongly. I'm entirely sure that my review won't quite get it right. Perhaps more intelligent people than I would do better.

I struggled a great deal with what I thought about the movie. In writing more than 3,900 movie reviews, I've learned that a movie is never really one thing. A "terrible" movie has redeeming qualities and nearly every movie, no matter how great, has flaws. That's certainly the case with The Birth of a Nation. How do you summarize a movie that does some things brilliantly and yet makes you sick to your stomach?

The big debate for me was whether I'd consider The Birth of a Nation a "great" movie. It's certainly included on many lists of the all-time classic films. I went back-and-forth on this, but where I finally landed was asking the question, "Has this movie done more good in the world, or done more evil?" I believe, regardless of what Griffith intended, that it's the latter. I can forgive many things about movies from the past- I get that we have to take the historical context into consideration. However, in this movie, the Ku Klux Klan are the heroes. I'll say that again. The KKK are the heroes. That's unforgivable to me. I don't care that the movie was released in 1915, nor that the sentiments here were shared by many. I can't consider a movie "great" if it makes the KKK the heroes. There were a lot of factors involved in this decision, but I would say that this movie isn't great.

Now, I do want to be fair- this is an exceptionally well made movie. This 1915 film is more epic than most movies that have been made in the 100+ years since it's release. Griffith was nothing if not ambitious. There's something remarkable about his vision for this film and how massive a movie he made. The film covers so much ground. The first half of the film is truly incredible. The focus on different families and their perspectives. The jaw-dropping Civil War battle. The drama, the humor, the ability to capture humanity in a film are all truly astounding. Griffith was able to tell both massively big and intimate stories simultaneously in a way few directors were ever able to manage. I'll be transparent here- I loved the first half of the movie and I considered this an absolutely great film.

But then, the story shifts. It's no longer about the Civil War, it's about Reconstruction. And then it all falls apart. The blatant racism, the the sickening twisting of history, the absurd white supremacy that follows, I could barely stomach it. To watch Griffith try and tell us that White Southerns were the victims, that the KKK banded together to protect the innocent. It's disgusting and bullshit and I hated the last half of the film. It turned my stomach to see the racists celebrated as heroes. I understand the historical context, I understand that it's hard not to see this film through our modern lens. I just can't broadly support a film that does this.

So, I'm still left in a quandary. Some of this movie is stunning, epic, and incredible. The Civil War battle is one of the greatest I've ever seen, and this movie is over 100 years old. I can condemn Griffith for this movie, but to be fair, I have to acknowledge the film does have many strengths. Some of it is great. However, I despise the message and the interpretation of events that doesn't remotely line up with history. I can't celebrate the last half of this film.

I'm sure this review is flawed. My own thoughts about the film toggle around in my head. I don't think I could fairly call this a "bad" movie, it's too well made for that. However, while I can acknowledge the film's strengths, I also have to acknowledge the film's many flaws. Maybe this doesn't go far enough, but I can't include this film on my list of "great" movies. I'm still saying it's really effective (because I think it is), but with that acknowledgement, I also want to stress how sickening much of the movie is. I don't know, part of me wonders if I'll have clearer ideas about this film a decade from now. The other part of me knows I'll never subject myself to this controversial, troubling movie again.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: I sincerely hope "enjoyment" isn't the main emotion you experience after watching this