Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- grandiose
- melodramatic
- inflammatory
- film history study
- silent cinema retrospective
What critics said
Critics broadly recognize the film as a landmark of cinematic technique and production scale while condemning its inflammatory, racist portrayal of Reconstruction and the Ku Klux Klan.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Civil War, Lincoln's assassination, and Reconstruction are presented through expansive set pieces and elaborate staging.
The Stonemans and Camerons remain connected while their sons fight for opposing armies, tying intimate melodrama to historical events.
The film presents the Ku Klux Klan as a heroic force and depicts Reconstruction through openly racist stereotypes.
Griffith's direction is associated with influential cross-cutting, parallel action, close-ups, and large-scale cinematic construction.
Films like The Birth of a Nation, and why
Intolerance
silent-era historical epic using pioneering editing, large-scale spectacle, and melodramatic storytelling
The General
ambitious silent historical drama centered on national trauma, mass spectacle, and innovative filmmaking
Gone with the Wind
controversial historical epic combining formal innovation with ideological distortion and racial politics
Birth of a Nation
major American historical drama whose cultural importance is inseparable from racist representation and national mythmaking
Movie Details
- Director
- D.W. Griffith
- Release Date
- 1915-03-08
- Runtime
- 195 min
- Rating
- 5.9 / 10 (616)
Cast
- Lillian Gish
- Mae Marsh
- Henry B. Walthall
- Miriam Cooper
- Mary Alden
- Ralph Lewis
- George Siegmann
- Walter Long
- Robert Harron
- Wallace Reid
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- FlixFling, Artiflix
- Rent
- Amazon Video, FlixFling
- Buy
- Amazon Video, FlixFling
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Birth of a Nation about?
- D.W. Griffith’s monumental silent epic intertwines two families with the Civil War and Reconstruction while pioneering cinematic technique and propagating racist mythology.
- What is The Birth of a Nation like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Birth of a Nation as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Birth of a Nation violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Birth of a Nation as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Birth of a Nation?
- Critics broadly recognize the film as a landmark of cinematic technique and production scale while condemning its inflammatory, racist portrayal of Reconstruction and the Ku Klux Klan.
- Which films are like The Birth of a Nation?
- Films with a similar feel include Intolerance, The General, Gone with the Wind, and Birth of a Nation.
- How long is The Birth of a Nation?
- The Birth of a Nation runs 195 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Birth of a Nation?
- In United States, The Birth of a Nation streams on FlixFling, Artiflix.
