Birth of a Nation, The, was the first American motion-picture epic. The silent film was released in 1915. The Birth of a Nation, directed by D. W. Griffith, deals primarily with the American Civil War (1861-1865) and the Reconstruction period that followed. Audiences of the time had never experienced a film of such panoramic sweep and dramatic intensity. Many critics and film historians credit the film with elevating motion pictures from a novelty amusement to an international art form.
The Birth of a Nation was based on the novel The Clansman (1905) by the Southern writer Thomas Dixon, Jr. The film in its original version ran 185 minutes, making it by far the longest motion picture up to that time. The movie is a masterpiece of storytelling, mixing documentary and romantic elements. The film starts with a prologue that portrays the introduction of slavery into America. The film traces the rise of the antislavery abolitionist movement and the outbreak of the Civil War. The film’s most famous scenes vividly portray the war on the battlefield and the war’s effect among civilians. The story continues with the South’s surrender and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
The final portion of the film portrays the Reconstruction period and how some Northern politicians manipulated Black Southerners for their own unscrupulous purposes. This section has aroused much controversy. Critics have accused Griffith of racism because of the film’s unfavorable images of Black people and sympathetic treatment of the Ku Klux Klan. A number of Black characters were played by white actors in blackface makeup. However, the film has been praised for its spectacular battle scenes mingled with delicate scenes of genuine emotion. The Birth of a Nation includes perhaps the first examples of realistic motion-picture acting instead of the exaggerated pantomime that passed for acting in earlier films.
The motion picture featured a number of actors who became stars of the silent cinema. They included Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Donald Crisp, and Wallace Reid.
See also Griffith, D. W.; Motion picture (D. W. Griffith).
