Review of The Birth of a Nation (1915) by Edgar C — 06 Jan 2011

For expressing my ideas concerning this landmark masterpiece of film-making, let me quote Flixster user Dimitris Springer (jimbotender):

"I really want to know however if all of the "audience" praising Scarface (De Palma's mediocrity) and Forest Gump (Zemeckis' sobbing flick) can realize the racist message in those films and not just in Birth of a Nation e.g. Puerto Ricans and low I.Q. people.Strange feeling,isn't it?Condemn the quality of a movie first and then we discuss the f***** political context!".

People are invaded with the biased ideas of Michael Moore, with the sickly racist humor of Borat/Ali G characters and laugh with "nigger" and "faggot" jokes. "Get back to Africa you niggers!" is a line said, word by word, in Scorsese's Gangs of New York. But oh no, that's a Scorsese film, and he's a great director, and look at the cast!

Damn it people; to what extent can you tolerate a masterpiece for what it is and build a perspective of objective and artistic analysis?!!! Is it because it is a four-hour silent epic? Does that scare you? Or do you really permit yourself to be influenced by popular opinion? And if so, to what extent? "If people say Griffith was a racist twit, I say Griffith is a racist twit." Ironically, his next film was called Intolerance. Was the title referring to the intolerance of society, or was he really raising charges against you in front of your very noses about you being intolerant to masterpieces?

This is the second time I get mad at you, and as a tolerant, good-hearted Flixster fellow, I promise there won't be a third one.

And as for the film, being technically landmark and controversial is not always everything you need. Whereas this was a grand epic, it was ellaborated at certain points more than it was necessary, over-emphasizing the racist issues instead of employing such societal background as a cinema tool for enhancing the main topic: the birth and evolution of a nation (Napoléon would have the most correct balance). Yet, it holds a seminal and very essential place in world cinema and it still remains as a gigantic achievement in mankind's celluloid.

99/100.