D.W. Griffith's || The Birth Of A Nation !!

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CREDIT:
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• Director: D.W. Griffith
• Writers: Thomas Dixon Jr., D.W. Griffith, Frank E. Woods
• Adapted From Thomas Dixon Jr.'s Novel: "The Clansman"
• "The Clansman" Novel Wikipedia Link: https://bit.ly/3IPhrji
• Stars: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall
• Motion Pictures YouTube Published Date: Wednesday, April 15th, 2020
• Motion Pictures YouTube Video Link: https://youtu.be/GgRnoHlzfq0
• IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0004972/
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DESCRIPTION:
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Two (2) brothers, Phil and Ted Stoneman, visit their friends in Piedmont, South Carolina: the family Cameron. This friendship is affected by the Civil War, as the Stonemans and the Camerons must join up in opposite armies. The consequences of the War in their lives are shown in connection to major historical events, like the development of the Civil War itself, Lincoln's assassination, and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.
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The Birth of a Nation (originally called The Clansman) is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from the novel and play The Clansman, by Thomas Dixon Jr. Griffith co-wrote the screenplay with Frank E. Woods and produced the film with Harry Aitken.
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The Birth of a Nation is a landmark of film history. It was the first 12-reel film ever made and, at three hours, also the longest up to that point. Its plot, part fiction and part history, chronicling the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth and the relationship of two (2) families in the Civil War and Reconstruction eras over the course of several years - the pro-Union (Northern) Stonemans and the Pro-Confederacy (Southern) Camerons - was by far the most complex of any movie made up to that date.
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It was originally shown in two parts separated by another movie innovation, an intermission, and it was the first to have a musical score for an orchestra. It pioneered close-ups, fade-outs, and a carefully staged battle sequence with hundreds of extras (another first) made to look like thousands. It came with a thirteen (13) page "Souvenir Program". It was the first American motion picture to be screened in the White House, viewed there by President Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921.
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The film was controversial even before its release and has remained so ever since; it has been called "the most controversial film ever made in the United States". President Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), whom Dixon saw as a Southerner, was portrayed positively, unusual in a "Lost Cause" environment. However, the film portrayed Black Americans (many played by white actors in blackface) as unintelligent and sexually aggressive towards white women and presented the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as a heroic force.
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There were widespread black protests against The Birth of a Nation, such as in Boston, while thousands of white Bostonians flocked to see the film. The NAACP spearheaded an unsuccessful campaign to ban the film. Griffith's indignation at efforts to censor or ban the film motivated him to produce Intolerance the following year.
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It was a huge commercial success and became highly influential. The film's release has also been acknowledged as an inspiration for the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan only months later. In 1992, the Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
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AWARDS:
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• National Film Preservation Board, USA 1992
• Online Film & Television Association 2000
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TRIVIA:
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President Woodrow Wilson is famously rumored to have responded to the film with the remark: "It is like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true." After the film became subject of controversy due to its heroic portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan, Wilson denied through his press secretary as to having known about the nature of the film before screening it at the White House, or having ever endorsed it.
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Nevertheless, Wilson's published works as a historian are closely aligned with the film's negative portrayal of Reconstruction (some of his writings are even quoted onscreen in certain prints of the film). Wilson was also notably a consistent pro-segregationist as President.
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Under Section 107 of the copyright act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.