Director
D.W. Griffith
Leading Actors/Actresses
Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, and Henry B. Walthall
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Miriam Cooper and Mary Alden
Genre
Silent Epic/Drama
Language
Silent, but with English intertitles
Awards
Selected to be preserved in the National Film Registry
Date of Release
February 8th, 1915
Producer
D. W. Griffith and Harry Aitken
Setting and Context
The southern United States, during and after the American Civil War
Narrator and Point of View
Through the point of view of two families: the Stoneman's and the Cameron's
Tone and Mood
Racist, Hateful, Tense, Epic, Violent, Brooding, Mysterious, and Energetic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Ben Cameron vs. Silas Lynch (and his boss, Austin Stoneman)
Major Conflict
The conflict between Northerners and Southerners over the control of the South
Climax
When Ben Cameron is inspired to create the Klu Klux Klan (KKK)
Foreshadowing
When Ted and Duke meet in Piedmont, their interaction foreshadows their later meeting on a Civil War Battlefield
Understatement
Austin Stoneman is a member of the U.S. Government and is a Northerner yet believes in Old South values.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
Birth of a Nation pioneered panoramic long shots, still shots, night photography, and panning shots.
Allusions
Allusions to film, history (mainly of the United States shortly before, during, and after the Civil War), science, the Bible (some of the attitudes of the Klansman/people in the United States), mythology, novels and plays (mainly The Clansman and The Leopard's Spots), geography of the United States (particularly the Southern U.S.), and government in the North and South United States,
Paradox
Some actors were white yet portrayed black people in blackface.
Parallelism
No significant instances of parallelism.
