Review of The Birth of a Nation (1915) by Don H — 13 Oct 2014

If you want to call yourself a film buff or possibly one day become a film critic, there are three unavoidable certainties in life: Death, taxes and you must see ''Birth of a Nation'' at least once. I agree with what the great film critic Roger Ebert said in his review of the film; ''It is an unavoidable fact of American movie history and must be dealt with". Anyone who has seen and knows what "Birth of a Nation'' is about hates it. The film's portrayal of African-Americans is appalling on every level, but there is no doubting that this film is a technical masterpiece.

The film centers around historical events like The Civil War, Lincoln's assassination and most controversially, the birth of the Ku Klux Klan. The film presents the Klan as the heroes of the movie looking to take back the South from the now freed blacks who do nothing in the film but terrorize white people.

The most annoying thing about "Birth of a Nation'' is how damned good it is. You hate its message and its disturbing view of black people, but you can't help but sit back and admire it for its technical beauty. There have been few movies ever made that were this impactful on film itself; this important. There are some unforgettable scenes in this film; the likes of which had never been seen before when it was released. There's the horror and the beauty of the battle charge scene (Arguably the greatest technical scene in film history), and of course, the chase scene near the end of the film where the Klan is racing to save a white family from being attacked by a group of savage blacks; the scene is horribly racist, but I couldn't believe how thrilling it was.

"Birth of a Nation'' by D.W. Griffith is amongst the most important films ever made. It's beautiful film from simply a filmmaking perspective, but from a decent human being's perspective, it is disgusting. No matter how you may feel about it, there is no way to avoid it.