Review of The Birth of a Nation (1915) by Marrick A — 01 Jan 2013

This is a great historic film. However my rating only applies to the 1st half of this two-part movie in its entirety (plot, story telling techniques and technical production), and to the 2nd half of the movie only to the extent that the movie's production throughout was technically very well done and groundbreaking back in 1915.

The movie score was fantastic and in its subtleties was a big part of the story telling of the film. The story itself is only worthy in the first half of the movie, as it is a historic piece that focuses on getting the details of the events from 1860-1865 right (thus the citations to sources of the film scenes, DW Griffith put into the text of the movie).

In the second half of the two-part movie, however, Griffith does not concern itself with historical accuracy and instead presents his personal vision of the founding and early years of the Klan.