The Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith "From my Point of View"

This is my first blog and this is my first time to have my own blog. I'm posting this one for academic purposes but maybe I would blog from time to time.

In our class FLMART1, a movie was shown in class. The title of this film is The Birth of a Nation and it was directed by D.W. Griffith. It was originally called The Clansman. The film was released on February 8, 1915. The Birth of a Nation is a silent drama film and it is black and white.

Just a background or somehow, a summary of the film, The Birth of a Nation was divided into two parts: The Pre-Civil War in America and Reconstruction. Generally, it is about the Civil War and the aftermath. There are two families in this film, the Northern Stonemans and the Camerons.When the war happened, different events happened in both families, all the young men joined the army, the Stonemans cast their lot to the union, the Camerons were attacked by the black militia but was saved by the confederate soldiers. One significant event here also is that Lincoln was assassinated and because of this, all his policy about the postwar were gone to waste and then the North people were determined now to punish the South people because of their acts.  Many things have happened in the next part but it is more focused on racial discrimination.

Watching this film, it was amazing that it is a silent film and I can understand it although you can't remove the fact that it is a bit boring especially now that the film industry is really developed compared to the past but I have read that it is one of the best film during that time and I think if I was in that time watching it, I would really appreciate it. It was good that a silent film was able to show the historical event although it would be better if dialogues were present. As a film student, I appreciate the way they maximized their resources during that time because I believe that during their time, it was not easy to make and produce film. I think there are only few people now who would appreciate this film and as for me, I appreciate this film.

One topic of this film was about Racism. During that time, racial discrimination is a hot topic because it is between the white and the black people. This topic is a big deal for them and it is good that now, the black and the white people are in good terms. Looking at this film, they are really opposing each other during that time. All I could say is that this film gave the people knowledge of the conflict between black and white.

I would recommend this film to everyone because this is a part of the world history but film students should appreciate this film and learn from this because it is not enough to know only the current trends of film but the past trends is also important for foundation.

For the summary or plot of the film: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation / http://www.starpulse.com/Movies/Birth_of_a_Nation,_The/Summary/