Thoughts on The Birth of a Nation

I can't watch The Birth of a Nation without commenting more.

I have not previously seen this film. I believe it is out on DVD but I've not seen it. Prior to the screening, a professor from the UC Berkeley Department of African American Studies gave a 15 minute lecture that was very informative.

According to the lecture, the movie was virtually a promotional film for the KKK. The film depicted the first Klan or the Klan that existed during the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. The start of the second Klan is typically cited as 1915 or the same year The Birth of a Nation was released. Griffith's father was a Confederate war veteran and Griffith grew up in Kentucky. Kentucky is usually considered a "Southern state" but did not join the Confederacy.

The Birth of a Nation was based on the novel The Clansmen by Thomas Dixon. The premise of the film is that whites are inherently superior to blacks. Conspicuously silent on the morality of the peculiar Southern institution of slavery and even casting Lincoln in a sympathetic light (he was despised by most Southerners of the era who framed the war as a question of states rights),
The Birth of a Nation is set during the Reconstruction era. Efforts to empower the recently freed slaves are portrayed as misguided or pearls before swine. With the help of their Northern overseers, the ex-slaves quickly disenfranchise their former masters; not to mention accost the Southern belles. Left with no other choices, the white men have no choice but to group together for protection, put on white robes and dispense swift justice.

The plot is patently racist but Griffith skillfully infused the film with his own cinematic ambitions. Having directed several hundred two-reelers by the time he began The Birth of a Nation, Griffith's goal was to create art on celluloid and make a buck. Although not necessarily a pioneer, Griffith combined several film techniques and the result was the first blockbuster. Griffith had a full orchestra perform before each screening (in essence creating the first soundtrack), he toned down the actors' facial gesticulations realizing that the actors' faces were several feet high on the movie screen, he employed quick cut editing to heighten excitement and he even employed symbolism.

At a time when most people paid 5 cents to watch a film at a nickelodeon, The Birth of a Nation charged $2. This princely sum did not keep away the masses. The Birth of a Nation was the highest grossing film until the late 1930's.

There were a few scenes that stood out.

There was a battle scene that was filmed from above. Smoking mortars and an omnipotent viewpoint give the scene more scale and grandiosity than otherwise would have been the case.

A scene involving new black state legislators acting in boorish ways in the legislative chambers - barefoot, eating fried chicken, etc.

The closing scene invoked biblical imagery to justify the segregation of the races. Satan (who looked like a heavy set man on an ox) was sowing dissent when whites and blacks are equal and interacting. On the other hand, Jesus looks on peacefully when black people learn their place.

There was another scene which occurred after the KKK has restored order. It's election day and black men stream out of their houses ready to vote and deny the vote to white men. As they exit their houses, they are confronted by several armed KKK members on horseback. The blacks, realizing their situation, timidly re-enter their houses; presumably without ever voting.

The question among cinematic historians is whether one can appreciate Griffith's directorial skills while overlooking the racist content. I was able to do so. I thought the film was surprisingly modern given that it was made 94 years ago. In addition, some of the more overtly racist scenes made me laugh at their absurdity. It's hard to seriously believe racist overtones when they are presented in such a old-fashioned, ham-handed way - to believe The Birth of a Nation, all blacks were eating watermelons, shucking and jiving and raping white women. If you can laugh at the racism, it must have lost some of its effective. If anything, the racism in The Birth of a Nation is more akin to satire when viewed from 2009.

I will say that during the Reconstruction period, most Southern blacks were uneducated. It was a crime to teach slaves to read and write. Portraying freed slaves of the era as ignorant is not inaccurate. Generations of slaves had lived in forced servitude, denied education and systematically oppressed physically and mentally. Is depicting that or its effects racist? I don't think so. I firmly that slaves must have known what they were being denied. Toiling in such close proximity to the masters, slaves must have understood what freedom meant and how dehumanizing their conditions were.

This basic humanity was lacking from The Birth of a Nation. Blacks and mulattos were portrayed as caricatures. The mulatto characters came off as the worst - mixing the white man's intelligence with innate black savagery and untrustworthiness. There was another memorable scene where US Congressman Austin Stoneman helps to install his mulatto protege, Silas Lynch, as the Lieutenant Governor of the state. Lynch passes several progressive laws to Stoneman's delight. One law allowed for inter-marriages and miscegenation. Stoneman is fine with the law until Lynch announces he wants to (forcibly) marry Stoneman's daughter (Lilian Gish). At that point, Stoneman changes his tune and tries to "save" his daughter.

There were many actors in blackface (allegedly including Erich von Stroheim). I wondered why he Griffith didn't cast blacks in all the roles but maybe there were enough black actors with self-respect such that he couldn't fill all the roles. I'm not sure if that is really the case; into the 1970's, black actors took demeaning roles for a paycheck.

I read that Griffith had a leitmotif for each of the major characters. Gish's coda was later used as the theme song on the Amos 'n' Andy radio show.

Griffith also experimented with color in the film. For a few scenes, the entire frame was tinted to various colors to match the mood or main scenic background. It was very crude by modern standards but surpassed what I thought possible in 1915.

Overall, I was very glad that I had the opportunity to see The Birth of a Nation in such a grand setting. On March 6, Cinequest is presenting Griffith's Intolerance (1916). As I mentioned before, I saw that film in December 2007. I thought the plot was rambling. I feel The Birth of a Nation is the superior film of the two.

Johnny Cash, the KKK, Scottish Nationalism, Australian Exploitation, LA Gangs and Indiefest

I've seen five movies in the past week.

At Noise Pop, I saw Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (2008). The venue was the Roxie. The documentary lacked focus but I enjoyed the soundtrack and learned that Cash plagiarized the lyrics to Folsom Prison Blue. Google "Crescent City Blues Gordon Jenkins" for more information.

On February 27 I went down to San Jose to see The Birth of a Nation at the California Theater. The 1915 silent film was directed by D.W. Griffith and starred Lillian Gish. The film featured live accompaniment by Dennis James on the Wurlitzer. The film was screened as part of the Cinequest Film Festival.

The next night I saw Not Quite Hollywood (2008) at the Vogue Theater. The documentary was part of the Mostly British Film Series. It's the first time I've been to the Vogue since it was taken over by the Neighborhood Theater Foundation. The theater was slated to be converted to condos but was saved by the Neighborhood Theater Foundation. The film was a documentary about "Ozploitation" films - 1970's and 80's vintage films that exploited Australian stereotypes and showcased naked women, raunchy humor, violence, blood and post-apocalyptic gangs of leathermen terrorizing travelers in the Outback

On March 2, I saw the matinee screening of Stone of Destiny (2008) at the Mostly British Film Series. The film was directed by Charles Martin Smith (The Untouchables) and starred Kate Mara (We Are Marshall) and Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty). The film was based on the true story of four Scottish college students that broke into Westminster Abbey on Christmas Eve 1950. They stole the Stone of Destiny from under the throne used to coronate every British monarch since the 1700's. The students stole the stone in the name of Scottish nationalism.

On March 3, I took advantage of the Roxie's $5 Monday special and saw Crips and Bloods: Made in America. One of the producers of this 2008 documentary on the infamous Los Angeles street gangs was Baron Davis, the professional basketball player.

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While they are still relatively fresh in my mind, I want to write a little about some of the Indiefest films. The audience award winners were announced.

Best Narrative Feature: Harrison Montgomery
Best Documentary Feature: Automorphosis
Best Narrative Short: Treevenge
Best Documentary Short: No Strings Attached
Best Animation: Descendants

In my last post, I only mentioned No Strings Attached. I saw Harrison Montgomery but was not as impressed with it as other audience members apparently were. I did not see the other films.

Actually, Harrison Montgomery was filmed locally so its audience award may have been a case of homers stuffing the ballot box. Harrison Montgomery is in-joke. Harrison Montgomery are the names of two major streets in San Francisco.

No Strings Attached was a very entertaining ~30 minute documentary about burlesque dancers. It was also filmed locally. The main subjects were the Scenic Sisters, two real-life sisters that are popular burlesque dancers based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Much of the film takes place at Tease-O-Rama, a burlesque convention held at Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco.

The film did a good job of portraying the subjects as human beings instead of pieces of meat. Indeed, the performances were tame by strip club standards and the focus was on the dance movements and costumes.

My favorite short was Burr as in Aaron Burr. The narrative was set in the contemporary American Southwest and involved an innovative solution to the age-old scourge of teenage bullying. The boy is pushed to his limit and considers shooting his tormentors à la Columbine. His best friend is the grandson of the last legal duel in the state so he leverages his grandfather's knowledge to set up a old-fashioned duel.

I was also entertained by Side Effect, a short horror film involving prescription medication and an urban legend involving a roasted turkey and an infant.

From the feature films, my favorite was I'll Come Running. Filmed in Austin and Denmark, the story involves the unlikely romance between a Danish tourist in a Texas and the Hispanic waitress (Melonie Diaz in a great performance) he crosses paths with. The film is a love story about people from different cultures and each half of the couple visits the other's home with increasingly absurd and ironic results. I don't want to give too much of the plot away because there is a plot twist that I didn't see coming. The key performance is delivered by Diaz who plays a strong woman who is confused by her emotions and behaves in contradictory ways.



Skills Like This is an absurdest comedy about a writer who finds his greatest talents may be as a thief/robber. He develops a romantic relationship with the bank teller he robs. Writer and star Spencer Berger delivers an effective performance as sad sack Max, a failed writer with an enormous JewFro. The film also featured an outstanding soundtrack with alternative/folk music.



Another film in which the writer starred was Leaving Barstow. The film has Steven Culp in a supporting role but features Kevin Sheridan as a high school senior with a codependent mother. Weighed down by his mother's needs and his own ennui, Sheridan's character is on the precipice. If he stays true to his mother and stays in town, he'll probably end up in a dead-end job and an unfulfilling marriage. With the help of his best friend and buoyed by his first romantic relationship with a young waitress who works at the same restaurant as his mother, Sheridan hurtles towards a life altering decision. I like how the interracial relationship between Sheridan and Ryan Michelle Bathe was treated as something that required no commentary.

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As I mentioned, I saw The Birth of a Nation in Downtown San Jose. The screening was extremely rare due to the racist plot in which the KKK are heroes. The NAACP still protests the film. Given the controversial nature of the film, it was quite a treat to see the film on the big screen with live accompaniment. The experience was made even more special by screening the film in the California Theater, an 1,100 seat theater opened in 1927 and renovated in 2004. The Spanish Colonial themed theater is beautiful. Sadly, the audience was small. I doubt there were more than 300 people in the audience. Given the crowds at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival screenings, I was expecting a sell-out. Apparently, the film was not well publicized, people weren't willing to travel to San Jose or the nature of the film was enough to keep people away.



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I also read that the San Francisco Chronicle is seeking a buyer or will close. I'm of the generation that still buys newspapers with the emphasis on the paper. Many people may think the closure of a paper is no great loss because they get their news on-line. However in San Francisco, the most popular on-line news portal (SF Gate) is run by the SF Chronicle. According to reports, the SF Gate can't exist without the newspaper because the Chronicle provides content for the SF Gate. I'm not a newspaper or on-line media expert so I won't say much except that local sources of news (held to journalist standards) are important for the health of a community. Whether the sources is newsprint or an internet is a matter of preference.

February Preview

I averaged more than one film per day in January but that's loafing it compared to what I have planned in February.

First up is the San Francisco Independent Film Festival (aka SF Indiefest) running from February 5 to 22 with a rump session in Tahoe on February 27 & 28.

I noticed that Indiefest did not get a mention in Sunday's Pink Section. Noir City got a write-up on January 18. One of Indiefest's opening night films (Fanboys) was previewed but no mention was made of Indiefest. Instead, the only mention of a local screening was that it's opening in theaters on February 6 (the day after it screens at Indiefest).

Regardless, I've mentally committed to purchasing a $200 festival pass. That will blow my $/film average out of the water as I'd have to see 33 films to keep my average in the $6 range. Even more difficult for me to swallow is that I'll have to miss at least two and possibly three weekend days of Indiefest. Opening night of Indiefest is at the Victoria Theater. The remaining San Francisco screenings are at the Roxie and the final four days are at the Shattuck in Berkeley.

On Sunday, February 8, I'm leaning towards a double feature at PFA. At 2 PM is Josef von Sternberg's The Salvation Hunters followed by Cairo Station. Cairo Station is part of the African Film Festival screening at PFA during February. Then I want to return to SF to fill a gaping hole in my science fiction filmography. I've never seen Soylent Green which is screening at the Castro that evening. I've seen the parody ("Soylent Green is People!!!") but not the original.

I've already purchsed tickets to the San Francisco Silent Film Festival's Winter event on Saturday, Valentine's Day at the Castro. I'm going to watch three out of the four films being screened that day - Our Hospitality, A Kiss From Mary Pickford and Sunrise. I'm passing on The Cat and the Canary so I can make it back to the Roxie to see some Japanese, soft-core porn at Indiefest.

On Sunday, February 15, I'll be at PFA watch Masaki Kobayashi’s The Human Condition - a 586 minute trilogy about Japan’s occupation of China during WWII.

Also screening during Indiefest is Kiss of Death (1947), the film in which Richard Widmark was nominated for an Oscar Award for his portrayal of Tommy Udo, the cackling psychopath that pushes an old woman in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs. Kiss of Death screens at the Castro on February 12.

On February 11 & 12, the Red Vic is screening Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) starring Klaus Kinski and Bruno Ganz.

Various von Sternberg films continue screening at PFA during Indiefest's run as well.

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I've never been to Cinequest which is a film festival in San Jose. I've heard good things about it but it is in San Jose. San Jose a 45 minute drive (that's one way and if traffic is light) from where I live. I was invited to the Cinequest Launch Party on January 27. I could not attend because I was at Noir City that night. Reading Jason's Blog, I see they are screening D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation. The chance to see this legendary 1915 film on the big screen is enough to get me down to San Jose. It screens at 7 PM on Friday, February 27 at the California Theater.

The following Friday (March 5), Cinequest is screening Griffith's 1916 opus, Intolerance. I saw that film at the SF Silent Film Festival Winter event at the Castro in December 2007 although I seem to have forgotten to note it in this blog.

Both The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance will feature Dennis James on the Mighty Wurlitzer.