He's a good actor, but not much of a director; the visual style and approach of The Birth of a Nation tries a little of everything, and often too much of everything. [3][4][5] While Parker was acquitted and Celestin was not retried after his conviction was overturned on appeal, the controversy surrounding the alleged rape and Parker's initial responses to the controversy cast a shadow over the film.[6]. "[100], The Reverend Charles Henry Parkhurst argued that the film was not racist, saying that it "was exactly true to history" by depicting freedmen as they were and, therefore, it was a "compliment to the black man" by showing how far black people had "advanced" since Reconstruction. [59] She said, "As a rape survivor and as an advocate, I cannot shy away from this responsibility because the conversation got difficult. Parker wrote the screenplay, which was based on a story he co-wrote with Jean McGianni Celestin. Set against the antebellum South, THE BIRTH OF A NATION follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. This version was released on Blu-ray by Kino in the US, Eureka in the UK (as part of their "Masters of Cinema" collection) and Divisa Home Video in Spain. Griffith believed that a passage from The Clansman where Klansmen ride "to the rescue of persecuted white Southerners" could be adapted into a great cinematic sequence. [121] The film is slightly less extreme than the books upon which it is based, in which Dixon misrepresented Reconstruction as a nightmarish time when black men ran amok, storming into weddings to rape white women with impunity. [73] When the film opened, the tickets were sold at premium prices. [14] The NAACP spearheaded an unsuccessful campaign to ban the film. He is rescued by Phil Stoneman and a few of his black servants. The first overt mentioning of the war is the scene in which Abraham Lincoln signs the call for the first 75,000 volunteers. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Collection He also secures the passing of legislation allowing mixed-race marriages. Diane Victor's "Birth of a Nation Series" is a suite of ten etchings using imagery adapted from classical mythology to a South African context of visuality. The Birth of a Nation, originally called The Clansman,[5] is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. [53], Despite making back nearly twice its budget, the film was considered a financial disappointment. The film presents the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as a heroic force necessary to preserve American values and a white supremacist social order. And through it all the Klan rode. [91], Both Griffith and Dixon in letters to the press dismissed African-American protests against The Birth of a Nation. Like Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, it is a great film that argues for evil. [51], In the United States and Canada, The Birth of a Nation was projected to gross around $10 million in its opening weekend. Dixon's proceeds were the largest sum any author had received [up to 2007] for a motion picture story and amounted to several million dollars. Parker had previously been part of a cast that portrayed historical figures from Wiley, in The Great Debaters. Share. [86] The following day a huge demonstration was staged at Faneuil Hall. [12][13], In response to the film's depictions of black people and Civil War history, African Americans across the nation organized and participated in protests against The Birth of a Nation. President Woodrow Wilson signaled his support of White Nationalist groups by ending executive branch civil rights outreach and by showing The Birth Of A Nation in the White House. During the night, Nat and a fellow slave enter the house of their owners and kill Samuel and the manager. [40][41], Outside of original compositions, Breil adapted classical music for use in the film, including passages from Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber, Leichte Kavallerie by Franz von Suppé, Symphony No. "Mr. Dixon also observed that he would have allowed none but the son of a Confederate soldier to direct the film version of The Clansman."[18]. Competing deals also came from The Weinstein Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Netflix. "[61] Metacritic gave the film a normalized score of 69 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In places such as in Boston where thousands of white people viewed the film, black leaders tried to have it banned on the basis that it inflamed racial tensions and could incite violence. But, you know, great cinematography. The couples are used as a metaphor, representing the film's broader message of the need for the reconciliation of the North and South to defend white supremacy. Lynch then orders a crackdown on the Klan after discovering Gus's murder. It is based on the story of Nat Turner, the enslaved man who led a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831. A ctional tale about the founding of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction, The Birth of a Nation was a cinematic spectacle the likes of which the world had never seen, one that historians have noted \would bring about a revolution in American moviegoing" (Stokes, 2007). In the morning, they enter the town of Jerusalem to loot it for weapons. Elsie frees her mouth and screams for help. [45] The second night, it was sold out and people were turned away. March 3, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. UTC A century ago, on March 3, 1915, the most reprehensibly racist film in Hollywood history opened in New York. More than anyone else—more than all others combined—he invented the film art. [28]:426 In Boston, Booker T. Washington wrote a newspaper column asking readers to boycott the film,[28]:426 while the civil rights activist William Monroe Trotter organized demonstrations against the film, which he predicted was going to worsen race relations. The Birth of a Nation, originally called The Clansman, is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. [92] In a letter to The New York Globe, Griffith wrote that his film was "an influence against the intermarriage of blacks and whites". Evidence exists that the film originally included scenes of white slave traders seizing blacks from West Africa and detaining them aboard a slave ship, Southern congressmen in the House of Representatives, Northerners reacting to the results of the 1860 presidential election, the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, a Union League meeting, depictions of martial law in South Carolina, and a battle sequence. As he witnesses countless atrocities, against himself and his fellow slaves, Nat orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom. Shopping. [28]:432 Historian E. Merton Coulter treated The Birth of a Nation as historically correct and painted a vivid picture of "black beasts" running amok, encouraged by alcohol-sodden, corrupt and vengeful black Republican politicians. The 2016 film uses the same title as "D. W. Griffith's 1915 KKK propaganda film in a very purposeful way", said The Hollywood Reporter. According to the film historian Kevin Brownlow, the film was "astounding in its time" and initiated "so many advances in film-making technique that it was rendered obsolete within a few years". Birth of a Nation: Plot Overview | SparkNotes Birth of a Nation The plot of The Birth of a Nation revolves around two families living on either side of the Mason-Dixon Line who become friends when their sons board together at school. [31] Interviews in Variety[32] and Deadline[33] were a focus, as was Parker's response to the event in an impassioned Facebook post. At the end of the festival, the film won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. However, Stevens' biracial housekeeper, Lydia Hamilton Smith, was considered his common-law wife, and was generously provided for in his will. The Birth of a Nation is a landmark of film history. In addition, several scenes were cut at the insistence of New York Mayor John Purroy Mitchel due to their highly racist content before its release in New York City, including a female abolitionist activist recoiling from the body odor of a black boy, black men seizing white women on the streets of Piedmont, and deportations of blacks with the title "Lincoln's Solution." It went on to open to $7.1 million, finishing 6th at the box office. It's tempting to think of the film's influence as evidence of the inherent corruption of realism as a cinematic mode—but it's even more revealing to acknowledge the disjunction between its beauty, on the one hand, and, on the other, its injustice and falsehood. Finally, Brody argued that the end of the film, where the Klan prevents defenseless African Americans from exercising their right to vote by pointing guns at them, today seems "unjust and cruel". It, too, was given the original Breil score and featured the film's original tinting for the first time since its 1915 release. Various film historians have expressed a range of views about these titles. Meanwhile, historic dramas can be a hard sell: It's possible a lot of multiplex visitors just plain weren't interested. [120] The film suggested that the Ku Klux Klan restored order to the postwar South, which was depicted as endangered by abolitionists, freedmen, and carpetbagging Republican politicians from the North. Trapped on a precipice, Flora warns Gus she will jump if he comes any closer. Also at the hospital, he meets Elsie Stoneman, whose picture he has been carrying; she is working there as a nurse. I've reclaimed this title and re-purposed it as a tool to challenge racism and white supremacy in America, to inspire a riotous disposition toward any and all injustice in this country (and abroad) and to promote the kind of honest confrontation that will galvanize our society toward healing and sustained systemic change.[10]. "[85] In New York, Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise told the press after seeing The Birth of a Nation that the film was "an indescribable foul and loathsome libel on a race of human beings". [6][7] It was the first 12-reel film ever made and, at three hours, also the longest up to that point. [93], When Sherwin Lewis of The New York Globe wrote a piece that expressed criticism of the film's distorted portrayal of history and said that it was not worthy of constitutional protection because its purpose was to make a few "dirty dollars", Griffith responded that "the public should not be afraid to accept the truth, even though it might not like it". If in this work we have conveyed to the mind the ravages of war to the end that war may be held in abhorrence, this effort will not have been in vain. Undercover Klansman spies go to get help when they discover Elsie's plight after she breaks a window and cries out for help. It is based on the story of Nat Turner, the enslaved man who led a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831. "[36], Gabrielle Union, a rape survivor and one of the main stars in The Birth of a Nation, wrote in the Los Angeles Times to express her concern over the allegations, particularly the lack of affirmative consent: "Even if she never said 'no', silence certainly does not equal 'yes'. [90] The NAACP set up a precedent-setting national boycott of the film, likely seen as the most successful effort. [7] Parker learned about Turner from an African-American studies course at the University of Oklahoma. He concluded, "The Birth of a Nation exists to provoke a serious debate about the necessity and limitations of empathy, the morality of retaliatory violence, and the ongoing black struggle for justice and equality in this country. Birth of a Nation banned in Ohio. Most of her lessons center around the Bible. Its exhibition at the White House was a courtesy extended to an old acquaintance. 1999-2185): Verdict", "Nate Parker's Alleged Rape And The Limits of Hollywood Damage Control", "Nate Parker Rape Trial Could Change 'The Birth of a Nation Release, "Nate Parker's 'Birth of a Nation' Exploits My Sister All Over Again (Guest Column)", "Nate Parker Deflects Questions About His Past to Push 'The Birth of a Nation' in Toronto", "Nate Parker Interview Cut Short After Rape Question", "Exclusive: Nate Parker's Former Classmates, Penn State Alumni Speak Out in Support", "Harry Belafonte Questions Timing of Resurfaced Nate Parker Rape Trial, Praises 'Birth of a Nation, "Chadwick Boseman speaks on Nate Parker. [54][55] In assessing the mediocre[56][57] opening weekend of The Birth of a Nation, The Washington Post reported, "While some moviegoers may have been put off by the controversy, middling reviews for the movie itself probably didn’t help. [12] By April 2015, Aja Naomi King and Gabrielle Union joined the cast. [130], In his review of The Birth of a Nation in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Jonathan Kline writes that "with countless artistic innovations, Griffith essentially created contemporary film language ... virtually every film is beholden to [The Birth of a Nation] in one way, shape or form. For 1915 silent film of the same name, see, I kind of sold this project to investors and cast on legacy. When news about Elsie reaches Ben, he and others go to her rescue. [107] In 1920, African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux released Within Our Gates, a response to The Birth of a Nation. [29]:296, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) protested at premieres of the film in numerous cities. It mostly used new 4K scans of the LoC's original camera negative, along with other early generation material. [23], Many of the African Americans in the film were portrayed by white actors in blackface. [92] Dixon likewise called the NAACP "the Negro Intermarriage Society" and said it was against The Birth of a Nation "for one reason only—because it opposes the marriage of blacks to whites". He has also cited Breil's use of music by Richard Wagner as influential on subsequent Hollywood films, including Star Wars (1977) and Apocalypse Now (1979). Even then it does not tell the whole truth. [33], For many years, The Birth of a Nation was poorly represented in home media and restorations. Likewise, Brody argued that the scene where people in South Carolina celebrate the Confederate victory at the Battle of Bull Run by dancing around the "eerie flare of a bonfire" implies "a dance of death", foreshadowing the destruction of Sherman's March that was to come. [9] It came with a 13-page "Souvenir Program". [75], The film held the mantle of the highest-grossing film until it was overtaken by Gone with the Wind (1939), another film about the Civil War and Reconstruction era. The film played at the Liberty Theater at Times Square in New York City for 44 weeks with tickets priced at $2.20 (equivalent to $56 in 2019). It tells the story of the Civil War through the experiences of families from both North and South, shows the flowing of their friendship, shows them made enemies as the nation was divided, and in a battlefield scene has the sons of both families dying almost simultaneously. According to the silent film website Brenton Film, many home media releases of the film consisted of "poor quality DVDs with different edits, scores, running speeds and usually in definitely unoriginal black and white". They are immediately ambushed by soldiers who kill every slave except for Nat, who flees. [80] For years Variety had the gross rental listed as $50 million, but in 1977 repudiated the claim and revised its estimate down to $5 million. [43], Prior to the film's release, it received several hundred one-star ratings on IMDb, possibly as a result of the controversy surrounding the allegations. [53]:126 As put by Dixon, not an impartial source, "it repeated the triumph of the first showing". Rape was the foul daughter of Reconstruction! [28]:424, In a letter sent on May 1, 1915, to Joseph P. Tumulty, Wilson's secretary, Dixon wrote: "The real purpose of my film was to revolutionize Northern sentiments by a presentation of history that would transform every man in the audience into a good Democrat...Every man who comes out of the theater is a Southern partisan for life! Griffith's models... are not the pioneers of film spectacle... but the giants of literary narrative". It was the first sequel in film history. ", There was an uncompleted, now lost, 1911 version, titled The Clansman. Unaccustomed to silent films and uninterested in film history, they find it quaint and not to their taste. [75] It is not known for sure how much the film has earned in total, but producer Harry Aitken put its estimated earnings at $15–18 million in a letter to a prospective investor in a proposed sound version. [25][28] The university settled the complaint with the woman for $17,500. The principal love theme that was created for the romance between Elsie Stoneman and Ben Cameron was published as "The Perfect Song" and is regarded as the first marketed "theme song" from a film; it was later used as the theme song for the popular radio and television sitcom Amos 'n' Andy. "[32] According to Karen Crowe, "[t]here is not a single event, word, character, or circumstance taken from The Leopard's Spots.... Any likenesses between the film and The Leopard's Spots occur because some similar scenes, circumstances, and characters appear in both books. Now an adult, Nat is still picking cotton, but he also preaches and reads Scripture for his fellow slaves on the farm. During the night, they take over several other farms and kill the slaveowners. A short time later, they are attacked by a group of white men who had been alerted by the boy, and they have to retreat. [99] The producers had 15 "detectives" at the Liberty Theater in New York City "to prevent disorder on the part of those who resent the 'reconstruction period' episodes depicted. [74] By the end of 1917, Epoch reported to its shareholders cumulative receipts of $4.8 million,[75] and Griffith's own records put Epoch's worldwide earnings from the film at $5.2 million as of 1919,[76] although the distributor's share of the revenue at this time was much lower than the exhibition gross. Parker was acquitted of all charges in 2001; Celestin was convicted of sexual assault, but the conviction was overturned on appeal in 2005. [45], The Birth of a Nation was very popular, despite the film's controversy; it was unlike anything that American audiences had ever seen before. [50], Birth of a Nation was the first movie shown in the White House, in the East Room, on February 18, 1915. The first part closes with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, after which there is an intermission. [29]:299, There is dispute about Wilson's attitude toward the movie. [78][79] By 1940 Time magazine estimated the film's cumulative gross rental (the distributor's earnings) at approximately $15 million. [11]:198 Lincoln is portrayed positively, unusual for a narrative that promotes the Lost Cause ideology. [28][page needed] In late 1913, Dixon met the film producer Harry Aitken, who was interested in making a film out of The Clansman; through Aitken, Dixon met Griffith. 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