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President Wilson praised it as "history writ in lightning," audiences flocked to see it at record-high ticket prices, and critics lauded its undeniable technical brilliance. But this landmark epic's sympathetic treatment of the Ku Klux Klan sparked protests by African Americans and fierce controversy that continues to this day. To watch D. W. Griffith's The Birth Of A Nation is to shift between delight at the subtle and brilliant acting of such Griffith regulars as Henry B. Walthall and Lillian Gish; amazement at the power of its innovative cinematography (by the renowned Billy Bitzer); and dismay at its unashamed racism, its dependence on "blackface" stereotypes, and its hysteria about the idea of miscegenation. Nonetheless, this Civil War tale, which follows two families -- one Southern, the other Northern -- through the bloody conflict and the bitterness of Reconstruction, is a must-see. Small and sensitively staged scenes, particularly the "Homecoming," still pack an emotional wallop, and the film's richly detailed storytelling, large scope, and visual energy helped change the course of cinema forever. Karen Backstein

All Movie Guide

The most successful and artistically advanced film of its time, The Birth of a Nation has also sparked protests, riots, and divisiveness since its first release. The film tells the story of the Civil War and its aftermath, as seen through the eyes of two families. The Stonemans hail from the North, the Camerons from the South. When war breaks out, the Stonemans cast their lot with the Union, while the Camerons are loyal to Dixie. After the war, Ben Cameron (Henry B. Walthall), distressed that his beloved south is now under the rule of blacks and carpetbaggers, organizes several like-minded Southerners into a secret vigilante group called the Ku Klux Klan. When Cameron's beloved younger sister Flora (Mae Marsh) leaps to her death rather than surrender to the lustful advances of renegade slave Gus (Walter Long), the Klan wages war on the new Northern-inspired government and ultimately restores "order" to the South. In the original prints, Griffith suggested that the black population be shipped to Liberia, citing Abraham Lincoln as the inspiration for this ethnic cleansing. Showings of Birth of a Nation were picketed and boycotted from the start, and as recently as 1995, Turner Classic Movies cancelled a showing of a restored print in the wake of the racial tensions around the O.J. Simpson trial verdict. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 089218471697
• Source: ALPHA VIDEO
• Presentation: B&W
• Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Language: English
• Time: 3:12:00
• Sales Rank: 25,464

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Griffith Masterworks Set
• Orphans of the Storm/Intolerance/Way down East/the Birth of a Nation/Broken Blossoms

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