Review of The Birth of a Nation (1915) by Christopher P — 18 May 2009

Yes, this film is just as monstrously racist and pro-KKK as you've always been told. I went in expecting that, however, and am not awarding the film such a low rating based upon that alone. The fact is, "The Birth of a Nation" is quite boring, and way too long and drawn out.

The first ninety minutes or so is a dull, childish re-enactment of the Civil War, and following that is an uninteresting, uneventful love story. Throw all of that together with the insidious, naive bigotry of the whole project and I really don't see why critics persist in declaring it one of the greatest films of all time.

Oh sure, I suppose it was groundbreaking and influential in its own time, but it's not exactly up to much today. It's too boring and bigoted to be entertaining, and too skewed in its vision to be enlightening.