Review of The Birth of a Nation (1915) by Ryan V — 19 Feb 2012

This film, possibly the first feature-length movie ever made, takes place in America during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Basically, the theme of the movie is how the South was an idyllic place before the Emancipation Proclamation and is now swarmed with crazed black people who don't know their place anymore.

According to the filmmakers, the only thing that can save white women from the roving black rapist are the heroic efforts of the Ku Klux Klan. I initially thought that such a racially charged plot would make this a fascinating movie, but the only thing that stupefied me was how bored I was.

While a pioneering work in its time, these days The Birth of a Nation is for social historians only.