"The Birth of a Nation"

Paper Summary:

The paper argues the fact that the movie "The Birth of a Nation" - made in 1915 to give the American audience a new perspective to racial issues - left a deep impact on the American society long after its production and encouraged audiences as well as filmmakers to take a different view of cinematography. The essay first identifies the culture prevalent in American society at the time and then argues how the film guided cinematography from entertainment to a narrative portrayal of history.

From the Paper:

"Griffith's portrayal of a parallel social theme made a deep impact, as Hollywood had not yet been institutionalized and such a realistic representation of the American governance and U.S. imperialism only magnified the social ramifications of racism. Later, movies tried to follow the same path as Griffith but were incomparable in their technique. Filmmakers could not recreate the depth of the concepts as portrayed by Griffith. For example, "The Birth of a Race" was an attempt to counteract the implications as presented in "The Birth of a Nation". The production of the film directed by an African American manages to only depict what had already been realized in Griffith picture."

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