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"THE BIRTH OF A NATION."
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Essay Subject:
Examines director D. W. Griffith's 1915 silent film.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Examines director D. W. Griffith's 1915 silent film. Griffith's revolutionary techniques and artistry. The cultural significance, impact and mixed response to the epic film that set off a nationwide controversy. Visual impact of film and its inventive images. Griffith's development of a cinematic language. Describes key scenes. Racist content. Protests by public and civil rights groups.
Paper Introduction:
D. W. Griffith's 1915 silent film "The Birth of a Nation" is one of the most influential films ever made, and one of the most controversial. The movie was the first important innovative motion picture utilizing creative technical skills that were unmatched in its day, and that influenced filmmakers of later generations. The story, based on Thomas Dixon's novel The Clansman, is told in a melodramatic style. The basic plot centers on the friendship of the Camerons, a Southern family, with the Stonemans, a Northern family, and it is a friendship that is both threatened and tested by the Civil War and the Reconstruction period. The Southern family is ruined by the War, the Negroes (the word used at the time) gain some power in the South, and the Ku Klux Klan is formed in "self-defense" of white families and homes. The theme or spirit of the film can be viewe
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Some of the inventive images Agee was referring to include Sherman'smarch to the sea, Lincoln's assassination, the intercutting of old peopleat home in prayer with trenches piled high with frozen corpses, thedevastation of war on the land and on people. The movie was hyped and released as a cinematicevent, with hand-tinted prints, and the cost of tickets for the New Yorkpremiere was two dollars, instead of the usual twenty-five cents. Then the shotchanges, and brother and sister walk up the steps to the house as theaudience sees two arms reach out from behind the door. New York: McDowell/Obolensky, 1958.Barry, Iris. His younger sister (Mae Marsh) runs outto meet him, and they look at each other for a long time, both noticing howtattered the other one's clothing is. The rosy picture at the beginning of happy slaves and happy,benevolent white landowners is highly idealized and too generalized to betrue. Senator Stoneman, a leading Northern whiteliberal and abolitionist, has sent Silas Lynch, his mulatto protégé, to runfor the seat of Lieutenant Governor in South Carolina. His eyes are mournful and his gaze seemsfar away even though he is paying attention to his sister. Newspaper editorials and speeches Censured the film. The shot ends with a pan back from the troops to the mother andchildren. The theme or spirit of the film canbe viewed as a rationale and homage to the birth of the KKK. She begins to cry and he holds her,kissing her hair, comforting her. In 1948, one of America's most respected film critics, writer JamesAgee, called "Birth of a Nation" the one great epic, tragic film. Griffith uses pacing and lighting to enhance thescene. The performances in the film, especially those of Lillian Gish andHenry B. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1995.Heins, Marjorie. Critic/historian Arthur Knight wrotethat in "The Birth of a Nation," Griffith "had made all his majorcontributions to the medium, had transformed film from a halting, stumblingimitation of theatre into a vigorous, eloquent, independent art" (37). While the scenesdescribed above are admirable for this emotional imagery, lighting,direction and editing, is is difficult to separate form from content. First the Klan tracks down Gus, hangs him and leaves his body at the homeof Lieutenant Governor Silas lynch, as a warning. The film was an artistic and economic successand it set the standards for narrative filmmaking. In spite of its contentand message, the film deserves a prominent place in the history of cinema. Hecomes home to a devastated house. 2nd Edition. "The most beautiful single shot I have seen in any movie is the battlecharge in 'Birth of a Nation,'" Agee said (313). Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks. Griffith was the first Hollywood filmmaker to turn away from stagemethods by developing a cinematic language that included close-ups, cuttingback and forth, editing and other techniques -- techniques that could notbe used on stage but only in film. They are the armsof their unseen mother, enfolding her children, welcoming home the herofrom the war. Griffith "shapes abstractthemes to express an idea, 'War is terrible.'" (MacDonald 7 ). Gus sees Cameron and runs away as Cameron takes his dyingsister in his arms. In subsequent years, when the film was re-released (often in a cutversion) the film outraged moviegoers, both black and white. , but it soon expanded to $11 , . New York: New Press, 1993.Knight, Arthur. Sex, Sin and Blasphemy. As such, it should be shown. Each personal drama, and there weremany, was shown against a panorama of great spectacle, thereby amplifyingthe individual situation. Guspursues Little Sister, who has run away from him in horror at his proposal,to the top of a cliff. The basicplot centers on the friendship of the Camerons, a Southern family, with theStonemans, a Northern family, and it is a friendship that is boththreatened and tested by the Civil War and the Reconstruction period. The story, based on ThomasDixon's novel The Clansman, is told in a melodramatic style. Bright lights arecast on Little Sister and her brother while Gus is cast in dark shadows"(Diawara 846). Cameron, asfounder and leader of the Klan, escapes the militia and with his men findrefuge in an isolated house. But a highly significant part of the publicrelations campaign included the use of the image of the Ku Klux Klan."Wherever the film was exhibited, white-robed horsemen were employed togallop up and down the nearest streets and publicise every screening" (Cook& Bernink 5). Race riots broke out in a number of cities. The movie, which has been the most banned filmin American history, "was banned in more than a dozen localities...becauseof its white supremacist sympathies, racist stereotypes, and glorificationof the Ku Klux Klan" (Heins 4 ). It is, however, agroundbreaking, powerful film and a milestone in the history of the cinema. Thewhite supremacist, violently racist Ku Klux Klan is portrayed as saviors.The Carpetbaggers are portrayed as self-serving, insensitive Northerners,and the newly emancipated blacks are all portrayed as stupid animals,lusting after white women. From a sociological point of view, "The Birth of a Nation" offersinsight into the nature of cultural conflicts in the early part of the 2 thCentury, conflicts that lasted well into the Century. Gus' intentions are honorable; he wants to marry Little Sister.As he proposes to her, Cameron is shown looking for his sister. His use of the visual image is one of hisgreatest contributions to the art of cinema. These individual episodes had a very tightinternal structure. To protecttheir investment in the film, the production company decided to engage in apublic relations campaign. "The brutes, the bucks,and the tragic mulatto all wore the guide of villains" (Bogle 14). The filmbroke box-office records. Walthall, "rise considerably above minimum expectations to createcharacterizations unrivaled on the screen up to that time" (Ellis 36).Overall the performances were toned down, which was rare for silent films.The performances "are advanced well beyond the conventions of stagepantomime" (Ellis 36). The camera was used as never before, and thevitality is still obvious in viewing the film today. It is thestoryline, viewpoint, and characterizations of Negroes that set off anationwide controversy, one that exists to this day.This paper will deal with Griffith's revolutionary techniques and artistryas well as the cultural significance and impact of the film. The second scene under consideration represents the theme of the film. On Movies. This indicates the sympathies of the studio, as well as thatof Griffith. Lynch responds byordering the militia to hunt down and kill Klan members. In today's multicultural environment, depicting all blacks as lustingafter white women and portraying the Klan as saviors is not acceptable, asindeed it was not acceptable to many people in 1915. "Black Spectatorship: Problems ofIdentification and Resistance." in Film Theory and Criticism. W. Asbrilliant and innovative as Griffith's film is, The message of the film isblack and white in more than one meaning. Thus, Gus (and by inference all blacks) represent evilwhile Little Colonel and Little Sister (by inference all Southern whites)represent "absolute good. The Museum ofModern Art shelved the film in 1946 becauseof "the potency of its anti-Negro bias" (Bogle 15). It also established the technique and style of film making thathas come to be called classic (Ellis 28). Griffith was lookingfor a new visual language -- the mask, the vignette, powerful close-ups,the split and triple-split screen. Thescreen is dark except for the lower left hand corner which shows a womanand her three young children huddled next to the ruins of a hilltop home.Then, a slow pan to the right reveals a column of troops stretching offinto the distance with burning and pillage taking place in the villagebelow. Griffith. The scene contains a lyrical tenderness that demonstratesGriffith's power in using intimate scenes to bring emotion to the largerstory and scenes. She doesn't knowthat Gus, a black man is following her, and watches her playing with asquirrel. "The rhythm of the editing is faster when Gus chases Little Sisterand slower when Little Colonel takes her in his arms. Griffith was able to give "voice" to his silent film by his creativeand imaginative sense of cinematic arrangement, of making the silentpicture "talk" by "seeing". Agee went on to say that "The Birth of a Nation" was the one time infilm history that a filmmaker of such great ability worked freely as aninventor and an artist. Griffith, with hisassociate and cameraman Billy Bitzer, placed the camera on the first"space" dolly, taking it everywhere. The visual and emotionalimpact of the film was spellbinding for audiences of the time who had neverseen a long feature film or Griffith's kind of storytelling and imagesbefore. As an historical drama, the film is untrue but as a culturaldrama, it contains truths. "The Birth of a Nation" has often been called a masterpiece, anincredible accomplishment whose impact has lasted to this day. Ed: Leo Braudy & Marshall Cohen. The first scene mentioned is often referred to as the Gus chaseSequence is five minutes long. Contrast this scene with two of the most racist ones of the movie.The first is when a young white girl (Lillian Gish) hurls herself off acliff to escape the hands of a "lecherous" ex-slave, and the second is thearrival of the Ku Klux Klan, in response to Gish's suicide, to save theideals and honor of the South. All of these elements were seen by audiences for thefirst time in "The Birth of a Nation." The length of the film, the firstHollywood 12-reeler, almost three hours long, was also innovative, as wasthe original musical score played by a full orchestra. New York: BFI Publishing, 1999.Diawara, Manthia. Silas conspireswith the white, Northern "carpetbaggers" to deny whites the right to vote.The result is that the new leaders of the South lift the ban on interracialmarriages. Editing, mise-en-scene, narrative content allcombine to compel the spectator to regard Gus as the representation ofdanger and chaos...." (Diawara 847). The Klan comes to her rescue and also chase theblacks out of town. The original budgetfor the movie was $4 . What Griffith has shown is General Sherman's famous march to thesea, but contrasting individual human anguish with the large scale battle,the effect of war on an innocent family (Ellis 36). Given that the film is a significant milestone in the development ofcinema, and was incredibly popular and financially successful, why has italso been vilified. "The Birth of a Nation"was the first film to show what would be the stereotypes of blackcharacters in movies, all of which were negative. Agee on Film. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)picketed the New York premiere of the movie, calling it racist propaganda,and when the film was distributed nationwide, the Chicago and Bostonbranches of the NAACP also demonstrated against the movie. As if this is not enough, the Klan then rides to therescue of the Cameron family which is being threatened by the militia.After these two melodramatic rescues, white-robed Klan members ride throughtown as triumphant heroes who have kicked out the blacks and restored SouthCarolina to the whites. The Cinema Book. The Liveliest Art. One ofthe most moving scenes is when Ben, the eldest Cameron son, also known asLittle Colonel (Henry Walthall), returns from the war after Appomattox. Themovie is divided into two parts. He wrotethat Griffith "achieved what no other known man has ever achieved...Towatch his work is like being witness to the beginning of melody, or thefirst conscious use of the lever or the wheel...the birth of an art" (313). Black critics such as Lawrence Reddick said it glorified the Ku Klux Klan, and Reddick added that the film's immense success was at least one factor contributing to the great and growing popularity the organization enjoyed During this period" (Bogle 15) The ad campaign of the producers and studio, which stated the film"will make you hate" was particularly effective in the South wherelynchings in 1915 reached their highest peak since 19 8 (Bogle 15). In the meantime disguised Klan spies findanother white woman screaming for help as Lynch tries to force ElsieStoneman to marry him. D. Works CitedAgee, James. Whites are good, and blacks areevil. An exampleof this is a poignant single shot that symbolizes how terrible war is. She jumps off the cliff as her brother isapproaching. New York: A Mentor Book, 1959.MacDonald, Dwight. Other civil rights and religious organizations were quick to protest. Quite simply, the content is racist and manycharacterizations and situations are offensive as well as inaccurate. In response, the whites, led by Ben Cameron, form the Ku KluxKlan to protect white womanhood. They devised new and startling visuals-- battle scenes in extreme long shots, action seen in extreme close-ups,photographing the rise of the Klan with a camera fixed on the back of amoving truck (Barry 21). This subtle acting style, however, was not used inthe characterizations of 6the blacks in the movie. W. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1963. TheSouthern family is ruined by the War, the Negroes (the word used at thetime) gain some power in the South, and the Ku Klux Klan is formed in "self-defense" of white families and homes. Whenever the film hasbeen revived over the years, it has been blasted by civil rights groups, aswell as many individual moviegoers. Griffith's 1915 silent film "The Birth of a Nation" is one ofthe most influential films ever made, and one of the most controversial.The movie was the first important innovative motion picture utilizingcreative technical skills that were unmatched in its day, and thatinfluenced filmmakers of later generations. D. The issues brought up in the film -- slavery,bigotry, racial hatred, fear of miscegenation, racial superiority andracial inferiority -- are part of history, and to a degree part of thepresent. Griffithwas also the first important director "to divide his black women intocategories based on their individual colors" (Bogle 14). New York: Museum of Modern Art, 194 .Bogle, Donald. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.Ellis, Jack C. The film isthe paradigm for the successful "big" Hollywood movie through "Gone withthe Wind" (1939) to Ridley Scott's "1492: Conquest of Paradise" (1992) andbeyond. A description of a few key scenes from the movie illustrates thedifference in Griffith's depiction and view of blacks and whites. The first is just prior to the Civil Warand the War itself, and the second part, "Reconstruction," centers on theaftermath in South Carolina from a white Southerner's point of view. New York: Continuum, 1996.Cook, Pam & Bernink, Mieke, editors. A History of Film. Response to the film was overwhelming. The Bus sequences begins with LittleSister Cameron going to a secluded stream in the woods. For all its imperfections andabsurdities it is equal, in fact, to the best work that has been done inthis country" (314). The movie "is equal with Brady's photographs,Lincoln's speeches, Whitman's war poem.
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