Review of The Birth of a Nation (1915) by Tiffany W — 19 Jun 2007

With incredible cineamatogrophy [sp], a dynamic storyline based on the play "The Klansmen" [sic] and expert acting from Lilian Gish, "Birth of a Nation" [sic], rather than "Citizen Kane" [sic] deserves to be heralded as the definitive moment in modern cinema.

D.W. Griffith is able to bring the idealized vision of the Klu Klux Klan to life in an approachable way by utilizing stock characters to better define the South after the War Between the States. Rather than focus on the story of an individual or a group, and develop any characters thusly, he shows the story of the South and thus makes his characters emblems for the social spectrun of the South.

This is probaly the third greatest movie of all time.