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In 2017, D.W. Griffith is back in national news concerning his controversial 1915 epic Birth of a Nation, now considered both a landmark in world cinema and—as some historians have described it in a PBS documentary in early 2017—"racist pornography." There's a new film with the same title, deliberately chiding the original film by Griffith. Overall, Griffith's public reputation a century after Birth of a Nation is pretty dismal and as a life-long journalist who has written about film for many years, I agree with that analysis. Birth of a Nation had a terrible impact.
That's relevant, because this epic—Intolerance—arrived in 1916 and these two films, taken together, represent the infamous zenith of Griffith's career. When I first saw Intolerance half a century ago at the University of Michigan in film studies, we were told that this represented Griffith's apology for Birth of a Nation. In fact, today, we learn that Griffith never repudiated his horrific vision of race relations in the earlier film. Rather than an apology, this multi-million-dollar epic was Griffith's heart-felt claim that he had been wronged himself by "do-gooders." He felt that he had been wounded by intolerance. And, the dark side of this movie is that Griffith has put on the big screen some truly hateful assumptions about what, in that day, would have been known as Progressives. In particular, Griffith targets women's groups as evil cabals of battle axes intent on tearing families apart.
Having said all of that, Intolerance still ranks high on global lists of milestones in world cinema. It's still on the master list of greatest films ever made published by Sight & Sound, for example. That's a list voted by film professionals and film critics. Or, consider the more tabloid-style overview of this film in Kenneth Anger's equally infamous classic:
Hollywood Babylon: The Legendary Underground Classic of Hollywood's Darkest and Best Kept Secrets
. I tend to agree with Anger's assessment. The outrageous excesses of Intolerance (which contributed to the decline in Griffith's fortunes in subsequent years) was a major milestone in what Anger calls Hollywood's "Purple" age—an era of over-the-top excess.
I think that's why Sight & Sound and other groups of film historians still list this silent classic as a "great" moment in world cinema.
And, ultimately, that's why you should invest in this superb-quality Cohen Blu-ray of the film if you plan to tackle its nearly three hours today. There are countless other versions of Intolerance available online from streaming video to cheap DVD knock offs. Most of them are poor quality. I will point out here that I also own the Griffith Masterworks series DVD of this film:
Intolerance (1916)
. If you are looking for a DVD version of the movie, it's a fine choice as well. But, having seen both now, I urge you to get this Cohen edition.
In this review, I wanted to acknowledge the controversy swirling around these two classics. The heart of that controversy is the 1915 film and, if you want to know more about that, get a copy of Dick Lehr's excellent history:
The Birth of a Nation: How a Legendary Filmmaker and a Crusading Editor Reignited America's Civil War
. That was the basis of the January 2017 PBS documentary about that chapter in Griffith's career.
If you want to dive into this 1916 epic, you won't find as much written about it unless you look back to Anger's book or perhaps others that mention Griffith's building of Babylon in Hollywood. It's an eye-popping peak in silent cinema. If you've never seen it and care about the history of film, this is definitely a "must see" milestone. And, for your first viewing, see it in this crystal-clear Cohen version.
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Reviews with images
Another Epic Masterpiece From The Father Of Cinema, David Wark Griffith. An Artistic Triumph.
Stung by the virulent criticism over the non-existent racism in his epic The Birth Of A Nation, D.W. Griffith made this masterpiece consisting of four stories about Intolerance in four epochs of history, and skillfully intercut them, weaving them like Penelope did Odysseus' shroud at her loom. Long before Coppola crosscut (rather confusingly, I might add) between two generations of the same family in The Godfather Part II, Griffith did it much more effectively, and with double the material Coppola had, and in just under three hours. This silent drama is not to be missed. The score by Carl Davis is nothing less than epic, as befits this other foundation of cinema.Special features are: two of the stories from Intolerance later recut by Griffith himself for individual release after Intolerance failed to make as much money that The Birth Of A Nation did, a 2013 restoration trailer for Intolerance, and an interview with film preservationist Kevin Brownlow, which is worth seeing after the main feature. One of the stories recut by Griffith is enriched by the additional footage, whereas the other loses a lot by the excision of numerous scenes, and the alternate ending seemed forced, in my opinion.Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout The Ages is Not Rated.
Top reviews from other countries
Ken Mitchell
103 years old, simply astonishing scenes and much still resonates today
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 21, 2019
Amazon Customer
The first Great cinematic masterpiece.
Reviewed in Australia on March 27, 2019
Mr. Geoffrey L. Woodland
Brilliant film
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2023