The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Disc 1: The Birth of a Nation: One of the most famous silent 'classics' ever made is D.W. Griffith's mammoth drama of one of America's most dramatic moments in history - the Civil War. This film was based upon southerner Thomas Dixon's book The Clansman and told the romanticized story of the struggle of the defeated south against the oppression of the carpetbaggers and scalawags during the reconstructionist period. Griffith's epic has been praised for it's technical aspects, which were far ahead of it's time, and the performance of it's cast. It also has been the cause of heated controversy upon it's release and down through the years due to it's anti-African American slant and glorification of the "Old South"... as well as the foundation of the Ku Klux Klan. Be that as it may, The Birth of a Nation is still possibly one of the most powerful motion pictures ever produced. Silent with a music track. Disc 2: Intolerance: Griffith's answer to those who accused his The Birth of a Nation of being racist. He sunk all of his profits from that Civil War feature into the making of this massive movie composed of four separate stories which demonstrates how human intolerance has led to tragedy through the ages.