A Film a Day, Day 2: The Birth of A Nation

Name: The Birth of a Nation

Directed by: D.W. Griffith

Year: 1915

Starring: I don't know any of their names.

The Birth of a Nation is one of the most innovative and important films ever made.  Using cinematic techniques, shots and effects that are standards of film today, it's easily one of the top 100 hundred films ever produced.  It's also a teensy bit racist.

Just a little.

The Birth of a Nation was the most profitable film ever made during the silent era.  Breaking past three hours (Seriously?!  Three hours?!), it is easily the most tedious and labor intensive film I've ever had to watch.  For every milestone it accomplished, it had to have set civil rights back another 10 years.

Black people eventually showed them all by releasing the second most influential movie ever.

The film depicts the "glorious formation" of the Ku Klux Klan.  Depicting the Klan as a group of heroic knights, it shows how they came to the rescue to protect their rights and traditional southern values.

And by that, we mean protect white women from black people.

Of course, the film has a slight bias towards the Klan.  The film sparked a revival in the Klan, beginning the Klan's resurgence throughout the 20th century.  Essentially, the view of southern democrats at the time was that despite attempts at reconstruction, blacks and whites can't be integrated without some sort of mass rape-fest (apparently) and that the Ku Klux Klan was formed to finally restore order to the area.

Pictured: Restoring Order

To summarize, The Birth of a Nation is a vastly important film that revolutionized the industry, setting guidelines that are followed to this day.  It's also a civil rights travesty, giving a rebirth to anti-black sentiments and pro-Klan attitudes.

Final Review: 5/5 (based solely on the cinematic aspect)

Should you Watch It: Much like The Great Train Robbery, this is also free online.  So, if you have an interest in watching the history and legacy of film, then I highly recommend it.  For the casual viewer, it may be a bit tedious and/or offensive to view.

Up Next:  We plunge straight into the dawn of the 21st century, where we watch Batman go a little crazier than usual.

A Film a Day, Day 1: The Great Train Robbery

Name: The Great Train Robbery
Directed by: Edwin S. Porter
Year: 1903
Starring: A bunch of uncredited silent film stars you've never heard of.

I would like to welcome you to my latest attempt on a blog. My current project is to do a film review a day for one hundred days, looking at several films ranging from classics to modern day blockbusters. My first post features one of the earliest films out there, hitting an astounding 108 years old. The Great Train Robbery is one of the first films out there to actually use the medium to tell a story.

Kicking the ass of the previous victor, 'People Randomly Standing in a Fucking Garden'.

Thankfully, the film isn't very long, around 11 minutes. The whole film is actually in the public domain and can be viewed here. Watching it today makes it almost funny. The saloon-style music and campy over acting seem almost laughable, but all of cinema owes a huge debt to Edwin S. Porter for all of the innovations that this film brought.

Though he is equally responsible for the rest as well.

On location filming, cross-cutting (that is, to alternate shots between two scenes to elude that they are occurring at the same time), these techniques, though not originated here, are first used here to such an extent. While this film may not have withheld the test of time like many other films have, it is an important entry nonetheless.

Final Review: 4/5 (its age shows, but this is still a highly important and still entertaining film).

Should You Watch It: Sure, why not? I mean, it's free on the internet and isn't even 15 minutes long.

Believe it or not, this shot scared the shit out of people.

Up next, another really old and historically important film, filled with good old-fashioned hate and bigotry.

A Film a Day for 100 Days

Broken Plot Device, thought up as an alternative to me being unable to think of an actual clever and witty title, is a blog run by me, Jon Thomas, on articles mainly relating to film, film technology, film reviews, whatever the hell else I decide to write about, etc.

As my first project relating to this blog, I present you with A Film a Day for 100 Days!  For one hundred most likely not consecutive days, I shall pick a film that I find either historically important, artistically important, or that I just kind of like.  This involves me watching a crap-ton of movies and making the most out of my Netflix membership.

I essentially have my list all planned out, but if there is a film you think deserves a nod, please mention it in any of the comments.  Unlike most favorite movie lists, which seem to consist entirely of foreign films and movies made in the '20s, this list is mostly made of American movies made in the last 50 years, since I grew up watching American movies made in the last 50 years.  That being said, there will be a few old and foreign films making the cut, so don't get all upset when they do.

So I'll get rid of the old-as-shit movies right away, starting with the Great Train Robbery.  So, enjoy.