The film deals with the events leading up to the civil war, the war itself, and the reconstruction of the South. The film is divided into two parts. The first deals with the events leading up to the war, the war scenes and the assassination of President Lincoln. The second part of the film deals with the south’s battle to integrate blacks and whites. The film places two families, one from the North and one from the South into the historical time period. We see the war devastate both families and the relationships between them. Eventually, the blacks in the South are portrayed as lazy, lust filled creatures that are unable to control their sexuality. Th

The pioneering film work of The Birth of a Nation can be illustrated by watching the buildup to the historical night of April 14th, 1865. As the scene opens, only a small iris is scene of a couple attending the play, Our American Cousin at the bottom of the screen. The iris then expands to include the entire theatre with the Presidential Box in the upper right corner of the screen. The historical event is meticulously recreated as we watch John Wilkes Booth assassinate Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre. Griffith was the first director who used narrative techniques originating from the written word, using establishing shots, medium shots and close-ups. For example, an establishing shot is shown of the entire theatre, then med shot of the play, a close up of the gun, and then a medium shot of Lincoln being assassinated with the screen eventually fading to black. These and many other techniques e.g., flashbacks, panning, tilting, fades, were used to increase the dramatic effect of the story. The power of the story telling is evident in that the KKK is still rumored to be showing clips of the movie to initiate new members into their organization.

prefaced by “ A PLEA FOR THE ART OF THE MOTION PICTURE”:

After being released as the Clansman, Griffith changed the title to The Birth of A Nation due to

Some topics in this essay:
Theatre Griffith, Birth Nation, North South, Shakespeare Griffith, KKK Responding, White House, MOTION PICTURE”, Southern Blacks, Nation Griffith’s, President Lincoln, birth nation, events leading, deals events leading, civil war, historical importance, film deals, war war, entire theatre, dramatic effect, film’s content, development film,