‘Birth’ is ‘a great film that argues for evil’

When it opened in 1915, “The Birth of a Nation” was praised by film critics for its sweeping story and artistic innovation. The NAACP condemned it and called for it to be censored. And editorial pages worried that the silent black-and-white film would inf lame racial hatred by glorifying the Old South and turning the Ku Klux Klan into heroes.

“‘The Birth of a Nation’ will thrill you, startle you, make you hold onto your seats. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you angry. It will make you glad. It will make you hate. It will make you love, ” C.F. Zittel, a critic for the New York Evening Journal, wrote when the movie was released.

Other critics and writers of the day marveled at director D.W. Griffith’s technical and narrative brilliance and what it would mean for the future of movies. “I never had the slightest conception of what could be done with the moving picture as an art until I saw ‘The Birth of a Nation,’ ” wrote syndicated columnist Dorothy Dix.

However, as Richard Schickel noted in his biography “D.W. Griffith: An American Life,” some regarded the film as slandering of black Americans. Under the headline “Capitalizing Race Hatred,” the New York Globe wrote: “To make a few dirty dollars men are willing to pander to depraved tastes and to foment a race antipathy that is the most sinister and dangerous feature of American life.”

The Washington Post called the movie a “wonderful spectacle” and compared Griffith to the poet Lord Byron for capturing the “thrilling contrast between the joy of life and the hollow emptiness of death.”

The best sound bite came from President Woodrow Wilson: “It’s like writing history with lightning, and my only regret is that it is all so terribly true.”

Even decades after its premiere, the film, which is on DVD and has been colorized, remains powerful.

In 2003, Roger Ebert wrote: “To understand ‘The Birth of a Nation’ we must first understand the difference between what we bring to the film, and what the film brings to us. All serious moviegoers must sooner or later arrive at a point where they see a film for what it is, and not simply for what they feel about it. ‘The Birth of a Nation’ is not a bad film because it argues for evil. Like [Leni] Riefenstahl’s ‘Triumph of the Will,’ it is a great film that argues for evil.”