A Birth Of A Nation Analysis

D.W Griffith was a sophisticated film maker who knew exactly how to tell the story he wanted to tell, and was able to control his audience 's thoughts and emotions precisely. He developed a great sense of aesthetic over the course of directing 455 films, and A Birth of a Nation is one of his greatest examples of expert filmmaking. Even though the film is riddled with racist and evil themes, A Birth of a Nation is still considered a great film and learning tool today. One of the most striking aesthetic choices D.W Griffith made in the film is the unconvincing use of white actors in blackface. A character that stood out to me during the first act was the republican senators housekeeper played by Mary Alden. It’s very visually jarring to look at her because of the way they made her eyes bug out and her lips seem to remain in a frightening sneer. She looks evil and scary, witch is exactly what Griffith wanted to portray. For this reason he was successful in his use of aesthetic choices because he …show more content…
The content of A Birth of a Nation is very bad with racist evil themes, but the way it was crafted is incredibly good. The way Griffith represented African Americans in the film is completely atrocious and completely false. The film even sparked a comeback of the KKK after they were shown as the heros in the film. It is important to recognize the film 's importance and everything that can be learned from it, even if you disagree with the content. Not everyone is going to like every film or agree with it but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Not agreeing with a film doesn 't necessarily make it a bad film either. There is always something to learn, even from movies we don’t exactly enjoy. Films are beautiful, and in the case of A Birth of a Nation I would consider it beautifully bad. A sophisticated, well made film, with very bad