D.W. Griffith
D.W. Griffith
RANKED:
DISHONORABLE MENTION:
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
With "The Birth of a Nation," D.W. Griffith not only invented the new language of cinema, he also demonstrated how it could propagate evil. This monolith of a film was the largest in scale and scope anyone had ever witnessed. The film conventions it cemented were innumberable. However, it's racist depictions of African Americans and its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan created a siesmicly negative impact on our culture, as well as creating real world violence. This piece of art will forever be associated with both changing film forever and showcasing the power it could weild.
9. America (1924)
"America" represented the decline in the career of D.W. Griffith. He had become world famous for making historical epics that intertwined fiction with non-fiction. However, this film was a massive failure, both critically and commerically. Because of the massive budget, Griffith could not afford major stars. He also failed at clearly differentiating the Americans from the British and inserted confusing title cards that did not contextually coincide with the visual action. Overall, this film marked the end of his lustrious carrer.
8. Abraham Lincoln (1930)
In one of his last films he made in his career, D.W. Griffith went back to his roots. This Abraham Lincoln biopic is not the first time Griffith explored Lincoln and the Civil War, harkening back to "The Birth of a Nation." What this film does well is show you how the same focus on this American history has changed in the film medium. Griffith's explosive visual language from fifteen years prior is now old hat. This film is a demonstration of how the foundation of filming techniques had become boring and commonplace in a new world of cinema.
7. True Heart Susie (1919)
This simple film's primary function is a vehicle for Lillian Gish. Becoming one of the most acclaimed performers internationally, Griffith continued to showcase the talents of his muse. With "True Heart Susie," we continue to see Gish shine.
6. Isn't Life Wonderful (1924)
In perhaps his most contemporary film in his oeuvre, "Isn't Life Wonderful" tells the story of an immigrant Polish family as they navigate a post-World War I Germany. Throughout the film, the family must face currency devaluation, inflation, food scarcity, and near starvation. However, through all the hardship, they still manage to have hope and see the silver lining in things, continuouly remarking to each other, "isn't life wonderful?" If this family can see the glimmers of hope in a world that seems absent from it, can't we do the same?
5. Sally of the Sawdust (1925)
By the time Griffith reached the point of his career where he made "Sally of the Sawdust," he had already fallen out of favor with audiences. In retreating from his typical historical pieces, "Sally of the Sawdust" is a far more comedic film. The typical conventions are employed by Griffith to non-inspiring effects, however, the comedy makes for some light entertainment.
4. Way Down East (1920)
In D.W. Griffith's last great commercial success, "Way Down East" adapts an outdated Victorian-era play for a comtemporary 1920 audience. Well received during its time, the film further establishes Griffith's contributation to the common syntax of cinematic language. Not only this, he showcases how he can take an old-fashioned themes and turn them on their head using visual expression. The climax of the piece, the ice river sequence, showcases Griffith's masterful ability to blend images to anxiety inducing effects, as the scene is often repeated over and over throughout film history.
3. Orphans of the Storm (1921)
Once again, D.W. Griffith uses historical events to commentent on contemporary ones. With "Orphans of the Storm," we see two orphan girls try to navigate the fall of the French aristocracy during the French Revolution of 1789. However, Griffith uses this event to demonstrate his criticism with the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 (just 4 years prior). The film acknowledges the moral fallout of the aristocracy, but also how the revolution only created lawless violence, detached from any logical order. This film was Griffith's last great cricitical monolith.
2. Broken Blossoms (1919)
In one of the first instances of interracial love on screen, "Broken Blossoms" tells the story of a Chinese immigrant who attempts to save a poor white American girl from her abusive father. Unlike his films that came before, D.W. Griffith attempts to tell a far more intimate story. With this intimacy comes a delicacy in camerwork, set, and theme. What emerges is something Josef von Sternberg took inspiration from; that of a hard, dirty, and unsafe world forcing two gentle souls to find solace, peace, and love in one another.
1. Intolerance (1916)
Taking the money he earned from "The Birth of a Nation," D.W. Griffith funded something even more amibitious. With "Intolerance," the full breadth of cinema is exposed. The massive sets, the plot's timeline which covers 2,500 years, the intertwining themes across storylines, and the further advancement of camerawork and scope all created a technnical masterpiece. At the height of World War I, this marvel demonstrated the minute effects that lead to great violence and war. The intolerance and moral decay of society, which leads to interpersonal, political, or religious squabbles are only footpaths to greater chaos, mahem, and destruction. This epic perfectly encapsulates the selfishness of humanity, allowing their lack of empathy for other people collapse their respective empires. "Intolerance" would go on to inspire varied forms of cinema to come, and can be looked at as the crowning achievement of the 1910s.
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